By Bob Stewart, CIH, CSP,
Corporate Environmental Manager
The
article below, submitted by Glen-Gery Corporation, is a
part of BIA's continuing effort to highlight ways BIA
members serve as responsible stewards of the
environment.
York Plant Earns
Official Recognition
Many factors persuaded Glen-Gery to look inward at our
operations to determine how we can produce brick more
efficiently and economically while using fewer
resources. It is not good enough to just continue
operating on a "business as usual agenda when
competition, neighbors, and environmental groups are
constantly demanding more and better manufacturing for
less.
At
two Glen-Gery plants, recent resource conservation
efforts are producing favorable results and are serving
as the example for our other plants as well as for other
brick manufacturers. In 2002, Glen-Gery's York Plant, in
the face of prolonged drought conditions and certain
curtailment threats from the plant's public water
supplier, decided to take action on its own to reduce
water use. A department-by-department assessment by
in-house personnel in May and June of that year revealed
two major opportunities for water savings:
-
Non-contact cooling water from an automatic brick
setting machine was being disposed of in the
city sewer system after only one pass through the
machine. The water was uncontaminated and at a
temperature of about 15 deg. F higher than the
incoming water supply
-
Two water-cooled plant hydraulic units were consuming
water in a similar one-pass mode, with influent and
effluent difference only
in temperature.
Plant Manager Mike Lighty and Plant Superintendent Jim
Godfrey directed plant maintenance personnel to
substitute public water supply from several plant
hydraulic cooling units with water from an in-plant
brick making process water tank. Water from the process
tank would then be continually recirculated through the
cooling units and tank until needed in the brickmaking
machine. A pump was installed to assist in the newly
created closed-loop flow from the process tank to the
cooling units. A float installed in the process tank
ensured that public water would only be used to maintain
a safe tank water level, thus reducing public water
consumption. These improvements made public water supply
unnecessary for the cooling units, which originally used
only public water for cooling
purposes.
In
another area of the plant, the two hydraulic unit
cooling water supplies were connected to a 5,000-gallon
aboveground storage tank in a closed-loop, allowing
water from the tank to return to the hydraulic units and
be reused as cooling water again and again. Throughout a
full year the tank has provided sufficient water cooling
capacity for the hydraulic units. A float assembly
inside the 5,000-gallon tank permits public water to
fill the tank to a pre-set level if the level drops for
any reason. Public water use for the hydraulic units was
eliminated.
These improvements cost the plant $800 in materials and
labor. The return on investment has been almost
instantaneous:
-
Average monthly plant water consumption
dropped from 1.05 million gallons to 476,000 gallons; and
-
Plant water bills, averaging $1,258/month before the improvements, ran about $600/month after.
Soon after these improvements took effect the York Water
Company, public water supplier to the plant, changed its
water meter serving the plant. Although the York Water
Company was fully aware of the plant's water
conservation projects, their thinking remained that the
dramatically reduced water consumption was due to a
water leak or a faulty meter.
For
its water conservation efforts, the York plant was
recently recognized by the
Susquehanna River Basin
Commission, a governing agency that protects and manages
the Susquehanna River and its surrounding land. In April
2003, the SRBC issued a letter of commendation to the
plant, citing a documented 54% reduction in water
consumption.
The
Susquehanna River is the nation's 16th largest and is
the largest river lying entirely in the United States
that flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The Susquehanna and
its hundreds of tributaries drain 27,510 square miles
and spread over parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Efforts at
Mid-Atlantic Plant May Eliminate Need for Government
Permit
At
Glen-Gery's Mid-Atlantic Plant, well water feeds
numerous hydraulic cooling units, a water-cooled
compressor, and two brickmaking machines. All
non-contact cooling water and washwater from the plant
enters a settling pond on-site that discharges into a
nearby stream under a state-issued permit. Until
recently, the plant used about 21,000 gallons per day.
An initiative that began in early 2003 started with the
vision of Plant Manager Rick McDavid to make the plant a
zero water-discharge plant that would eliminate the need
for a state-issued permit. Eliminating plant discharges
involved changing in-plant processes, including how
non-contact cooling water and brickmaking machine water
was being managed.
First, the Mid-Atlantic Plant re-routed its hydraulic
non-contact water cooled units to each of the two
brickmaking machines inside the plant, using the
brickmaking machine water tanks as cooling water
reservoirs, eliminating well water draw into the units.
Because the brickmaking machines consume large amounts
of water, their water storage tanks require almost
continuous filling, traditionally by well water supply.
By re-routing non-contact cooling water to the
brickmaking machines, well water could be shut off under
normal operating conditions, or activated through a
low-level float mechanism installed in the tank. The
action of well water addition and tank storage serves to
cool the non-contact water sufficiently to maintain
normal operations. This installation was completed in
early December 2003.
Second, the plant recently purchased two wastewater
filtration units for its mold wash and brick saw process
areas. These areas use large volumes of well water that
becomes contaminated with silt and sand through
processing. The water would end up disposed of in the
on-site settling pond.
Each filtration system enables the plant to filter out
any dust and sediment from the water, making it reusable
in the plant. Cleaned mold wash water can now be used in
the molded brickmaking machine in place of well water.
Cleaned brick saw water can now be reused to cool the
saw blades used in cutting brick samples. A fraction of
the original well water consumption is only needed to
maintain a sufficient water level for each process.
Filter installation is expected to be completed by the
end of 2003, with startup in January 2004.
Already the plant has realized a savings of
approximately 5,000 gallons per day over prior daily
water consumption levels. Anticipated completion of
water recycling projects in 2004 should result in
elimination of all plant water discharges to the on-site
settling pond and creation of a no-discharge plant. A
reduction of 6 million gallons of water use annually is
expected.
With water becoming a more valued commodity, it is
imperative that manufacturing plants take all necessary
steps to reduce consumption.
Relatively simple and
inexpensive conservation measures, when implemented, can
add up to big savings, proactive environmental
protection, and positive public perception of the
organization.
Corporate Environmental Manager Bob Stewart, a Certified
Industrial Hygienist, joins a select group of
professionals qualified to evaluate industrial working
conditions in order to promote high health standards in
the workplace and in the surrounding communities where
industry operates. To become CIH certified, Stewart was
required to take and pass a stringent test of 250
questions from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene,
of which the average pass rate is 36%.
Stewart has also earned the credential of Certified
Safety Professional and is bound by a code of ethics to
engage in the prevention of accidents, incidents, and
events that harm people, property, or the environment.
Captions:
York Plant Manager Mike Lighty stands next to the lime
wastewater recycling system. Lime-laden wastewater
enters the white tank and is filtered through a paper
system to remove particulate matter. Filtered water then
enters the blue 5K tank for storage and reuse in the
making of Lorraine Whites, and is also used as cooling
water for the packaging machine.
Mid-Atlantic Plant's brick saw water recycling system
consists of a wastewater storage tank, paper filtration
system and treated water storage tank.
This hydraulic cooler is typical of the units used at
York and Mid-Atlantic Plants to recirculate cooling
water instead of discharging it into the public sewer
system. Recycling cooling water reduces feed water use
and wastewater discharge, saving both natural resources
and money.
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