Iracroft uses Aqua-Save wastewater treatment units

Environmental improvement and cost savings are being achieved by a UK manufacturer of hydraulic tubes and assemblies as a result of two Aqua-Save wastewater treatment installations.

Both units from Aqua-Save Technologies - the specialist division of component cleaning company Mecwash Systems - are now fully operational at Iracroft at Blandford Forum in Dorset.

Pete Lewis, technical and engineering manager at the company, said: 'We utilise a series of caustic wash tanks around the premises, which, unavoidably, produce wastewater in volume.

'Until we installed the Aqua-Save units, this required a tanker to visit the site approximately every three weeks to remove the waste solution, with significant disposal costs therefore arising.

'Now we anticipate such visits to take place no more than three times per year, which, in turn, points to rapid payback on the installation and ongoing cost savings thereafter,' he added.

Iracroft manufactures a range of hydraulic tubes and assembly units - primarily for the construction equipment industry - some of which are up to 200kg in weight and up to 4.5m in length.

According to the company, at any given moment some 2,500 part numbers are 'live', resulting in a constant throughput of material and a continuous need to ensure that production and environmental processes are of the highest quality.

Wash procedures and consequent wastewater disposal are a fundamental part of this equation, it added.

An Aqua-Save 30 wastewater recycling system has been positioned alongside the main dump washer at the site, containing some 4,600 litres of caustic cleaning solution.

At the same time, the mobile design of its stable-mate, the Aqua-Save Junior, allows it to be moved between production areas and attached to a series of smaller tanks, typically holding some 200 litres.

Each Aqua-Save unit allows some 95 per cent of the wash solution to be re-used with only the remaining material - mostly in liquid form from the caustic cleaning processes - then needing to be removed periodically from site.

The environmental benefits of this are said to be evident, while the reduction in water usage and cost that arises from each Aqua-Save installation is also a significant benefit, supplementing the reduction in wastewater removal from the site.

Paul Jarratt, divisional sales manager of Aqua-Save Technologies, said: 'Importantly, Iracroft has also benefited from support from the Enhanced Capital Allowance [ECA] scheme, which provides significant financial incentives to organisations investing in equipment and services that offset the potential environmental impact of their water-based processes.

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