Conserving With Water Filtration In Manufacturing

Manufacturers are heavy users of water. They depend on it for cleaning, sanitation, cooling, process use, and steam generation. Most of these processes also waste a tremendous amount of water and energy.

Manufacturers hold a great deal of water conservation and energy efficiency potential. Water filtration is one of the keys to unlocking that potential. 

Scaling and fouling in pipes can increase pumping requirements by almost 20%, increasing energy consumption and potentially affecting product quality. Filtering your water, however, can help combat some of these challenges, ultimately improving the efficiency of your system, and the company's bottom line. 

WHY FILTERS?

As discussed in Filtration 101: Why Should You Filter Your Water For Manufacturing, filtering process water helps to protect downstream piping and equipment from scaling and fouling, which directly impacts the quality of the end-product. Most importantly, selecting the right filtration equipment can impact a company’s environmental footprint by reducing emissions and waste generation, while protecting the enviornment and operators from hazardous materials. These can, and will affect productivity and bottom line for the company.

Installing a filtration system where one has not previously existed is not easily justified when capital budgets are tight and other projects are higher priority. However, with careful consideration of key cost factors (explained below), you could easily justify an investment in a filtration system that will generate a significant return – whether it’s a new investment or upgrade.

WATER CONSERVATION & RE-USE 

Water conservation and the supply of fresh water have quickly become areas of concern in manufacturing. Because of this and an increased emphasis on reducing a company's environmental footprint, industries should start looking at their manufacturing process and determine if it’s time to evaluate newer filtration technologies and systems. For some, it may be a surprise the cost savings that can result from a new or updated system.

So, how can you achieve this?

The obvious answer is to use process equipment that requires less fresh water. Or, you can explore water re-use filtration systems when the amount of water used is mandated by the process. Water re-use is quickly becoming a key strategic move for companies to remain competitive and socially responsible. It results in several economic benefits that can be broken down into these cost saving categories:

• Reduced costs associated with the purchase and treatment of fresh water
• Reduced costs for heating process streams, or money saved through energy recovery
• Reduced waste treatment costs

Any decision regarding a water treatment filtration system should be weighed against the relative importance of each of the above factors. In addition to minimizing overall maintenance costs, other key factors include labor costs, lost production impact, conversion, and recovery of product during scheduled and unscheduled downtime.

Crane Engineering’s team of qualified engineers are well-versed on filtration and can help evaluate whether your current filtration system needs a face lift. Contact us today and we’ll help you get started! We are happy to help businesses in Wisconsin and upper Michigan.