Powder Coated Tough - Fall/Winter 2007 - (Page 18) Getting the Zinc Out The problem of elevated zinc levels that exceeded city limits forced this lighting fixtures maker to re-examine its process for handling rinse water. SUBMITTED BY BONNIE COPELAND EDITED BY SHARON SPIELMAN I n 2002, Los Angeles-based Prudential Lighting, a manufacturer of fluorescent lighting for architects and designers, was informed by the city of Los Angeles that its zinc level exceeded the limits set by the sanitation district. “We didn’t realize there was an issue until the city notified us,” says Al Bastida, Prudential’s production manager. It turns out that Prudential was coating galvanized metal. “A lot of it,” says Bastida. “Like many three-stage washers, ours overflowed into a clarifier on the way to the sewer.” “We realized that we could have an issue with zinc every time we ran galvanized,” says Nancy Dietsch, Prudential’s purchasing manager. “And we certainly didn’t want that.” According to Jolie Ellis, Prudential’s administrative manager, “We tried everything we could think of to fix the problem. We modified our process and looked into changing process materials, but nothing worked.” “For a short time we considered installing a conventional waste treatment system,” says Dietsch. “The capital cost was high, we would have to add another tank to an already crowded space, and we’d need to dedicate a full-time employee to operating it. And even after we did all that, we’d still have the stress of dealing with the regulators, the costs of permitting and testing, and the risk of another zinc problem. We knew we didn’t want to go that route, but we couldn’t find any other options.” “We felt like we were hitting our heads against a brick wall,” Dietsch “We recover much of the chemical we use, we rinse with purified, recycled water, we save 75 percent of our old hauling and disposal costs, and our product quality is better.” says. “We didn’t know what to do until we called Jim Waggoner at IPE.” Industrial Process Equipment Inc. (IPE) built and installed Prudential’s entire powder coating system, including washer, oven, overhead conveyor, and Nordson spray equipment. “We were very satisfied with the equipment and with IPE.” Ellis continues. “Jim suggested we call Ecosystems about their zero-discharge rinse water recycling systems. We have so much confidence in Jim that if he told us to talk with Ecosystems that was what we were going to do. We didn’t realize that we had an option like this, and when we found out, we were thrilled. We got everything we wanted, plus additional benefits we didn’t expect.” Waggoner says, “IPE and Ecosystems had been recycling rinse water together since 1994. At the time I spoke with Prudential in 2003, there were about 30 IPE washers equipped with Ecosystems zero-discharge recycling systems in the field. Now there are over 50.” Waggoner provided the impetus for Ecosystems to develop its rinse water recycling system. In 1992, one of Waggoner’s customers moved his plant and his IPE iron phosphate washer from Corona to Chino, Calif. Chino places a 4.6 part per million discharge limit on iron, a metal that most sanitation districts do not regulate. The customer did not want to obtain a discharge permit; he elected not to use the washer in the new location. Waggoner says that bothered him and he vowed to find someone who 18 Powder Coated Tough
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