Inexpensive Way To Treat Waste Water

Thread from IPC's ComplianceNet

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 16:18:35 –0500
Sender: ComplianceNet Mail Forum
From: Christopher Rhodes
Subject: Fwd: Inexpensive way to treat waste water

I'm just forwarding this as a favor to the originator. If anyone has suggestions, please reply directly to Kirsten.

Thank you.

Christopher Rhodes
Director of Public Policy
IPC
2215 Sanders Road
Northbrook IL 60062
847/509-9700 x306
fax 509-9798
rhodch@ipc.org

Subject: Inexpensive way to treat waste water

I have been asked by one of my co-workers for some information on how to treat water for a new circuit board manufacturer.

The manufacturer is starting up the business and is interested in ways to treat water before release. However, they do not want to spend a large amount of money until the business is bigger. They have talked to another local business who has a closed loop system which they would like to go toward in the future but cannot justifying spending 200K at this time when their production rate is low.

We have recommended that they test the water to see exactly what components will be in it. They are aware of local requirements.

The process is flux, wave solder and wash. They will be using a water-soluble flux and a wash with some detergent in it until the closed-loop deionized water system comes on line. Some lead is expected in the rinse water.

Any information on inexpensive waste water treatment will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Kirsten

Kirsten M. Koepsel
Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center
7300 Jack Newell Blvd., South
Fort Worth, TX 76118
817-272-5925
817-272-5977 (fax)
kkoepsel@arri.uta.edu (e-mail)
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 08:21:47 +0000
Reply-To: "ComplianceNet E-Mail Forum." , "Robert E. Mesick"
Sender: ComplianceNet Mail Forum
From: "Robert E. Mesick"
Subject: Re: Inexpensive way to treat waste water
X-To: kkoepsel@arrirs04.uta.edu

Kirsten,

The simplest system is a closed loop DI. They can be fairly inexpensive. Check out our home page or email back for more information. A small system should sell for under 30k. Components for less. We do all types of systems, we just finished Ball Semiconductor in Allen, Tx which was a standard precipitation system.

Your client will need carbon, cation and anion columns and a regeneration system. Control will be with a Conductivity monitor. He will close loop the rinse water with a little bleed to drain (5% of flow) to prevent buildup of unknow contaminants in the water. Every 3 months he will replace and haul the carbon. The resin should last several years before it needs to be replaced. Replacement cost is minimal.

The regenerant will be sent to a holding tank where it is neutralized and settled. A small filter press will concentrate the sludge. Sludge is hauled every 90 days and should be less than a drum.

The other alternative is to just treat to drain. The heavy metals are stripped and all of the water is sent to drain. The is no recycling of water but it is less costly to operate. He will need another source of DI water. Cost is slightly less for capital equip.

The lowest capital cost is to stick all the water in a big tank, pH neutralize to 8.5-9 and run it through a small filter press. He still has to generated DI water and the labor on this type of system is much higher. He will have to treat daily or several times a day with this, a couple of times a week or once a week with a closed loop DI or a couple times a month with a metal stripping IX system.

Labor and pain and suffering offset the lower cost.

Best Regards,

Robert E. Mesick
President
Remco Engineering
Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems
www.remco.com

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 08:11:38 -0400
Reply-To: "ComplianceNet E-Mail Forum." , George Cushnie
Sender: ComplianceNet Mail Forum
From: George Cushnie
Subject: Re: Inexpensive way to treat waste water

Kirsten:
The capital cost of treatment equipment is mostly related to hydraulic loading (flow rate usually measured in gallons per minute). It is impossible for anyone to estimate costs without knowing flow rate. If your client is starting from scratch, they are in a unique position because they can design pollution prevention methods into the production lines that will greatly reduce wastewater flow (as well as other wastes). If they have constructed a new PWB facility without regard to waste management, they have not done their homework. Many of the layout and equipment decisions for new facilities are driven by environmental control factors, including water use.

The quantity of water used to produce PWB varies significantly. Comparisons can be made by looking at the gallons of water used per layer square feet. Benchmarking data can be found on the Printed Wiring Board Resource Center (http://www.pwbrc.org) (see Benchmarking Tool on main menu).

There is a range of technologies applicable to PWB wastewaters. The most common are convention precipitation with gravity settling of solids, precipitation with membrane filtration, and ion exchange. To give you an idea of cost, the installed (it s important to consider installed cost) capital cost of a 50 gpm membrane system is about $150K. Operating costs are typically in the range of $30/1,000 gallons treated (includes labor, treatment reagents, sludge disposal, and equipment maintenance).

There is a wealth of pollution prevention and treatment information at the PWBRC. In particular, check out the P2 Tool and the Technical Database.

Regards,

George Cushnie
PWBRC Staff
http://www.pwbrc.org