| Water Efficiency
Water Conservation in the Chemical
Industry
Case Study: Advantis Technologies, Inc.
Kent Connole, Advantis Technologies
John Allen, Pollution Prevention Assistance Division
Advantis Technologies has a mission. Located in Alpharetta, Georgia,
Advantis, a recipient of the 2001 GW&PCA Industrial Award for
Pollution Prevention, is determined to become the leader in production
and distribution of pool & spa chemicals and Accessories and
Surface Water Products by exceeding the expectations of their customers,
providing a fair return to their shareholders, and protecting the
environment. By focusing on wastewater generation and water conservation,
Advantis is able to address all aspects of this important goal.
Wastewater Generation
As with many chemical companies, water was used to rinse out chemical
tanks after the manufacturing process was complete. Advantis established
a program to re-use all rinse water generated when cleaning a mix
tank. After rinsing for a particular chemical, the rinse water
is stored and then re-used as make-up water the next time that
chemical is prepared. As a result, Advantis no longer discharges
any industrial wastewater to the city sewer system. The end result
was a reduction in wastewater generation of approximately 70,000
gallons per year since 1998.
Water Conservation
Advantis also made a concerted effort to conserve the amount of
water used at the facility and in the manufacturing process. Some
examples of their water conservation efforts are:
- Establishing a manufacturing plan to run similar chemicals
back-to-back in order to reduce the number of cleanups and thus
reduce the amount of water needed for rinsing.
- Modifying several formulations to make them fall into existing
chemical groups to avoid special runs with unique waste streams.
- Installing a programmable irrigation timer with multiple time
and zone settings.
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