How Do You Reduce Water Consumption by 60 Million Gallons Per Year?

Figure 1
A cooling water “aqueduct” carries noncontact, spent hydraulic fluid cooling water to the company’s finishing rinse stations.

Philips Lightolier, Fall River, Mass., is a vertically integrated lighting reflector manufacturer, making reflectors for LEDs and fluorescents and assembling them. The plant produces 5,500 different SKUs. Current annual delivery and sales from the site is about $155 million.

The manufacturer reduced its water consumption by 60 million gallons per year from 2007 to 2012 as part of international parent company Philips’ Green Manufacturing 2015 sustainability plan. It represents a 62 percent cutback.

Facility Manager Ron Westgate and his team reduced the manufacturing plant’s consumption by implementing several ingenious approaches, including reusing hydraulic fluid cooling water, eliminating wasted cooling water, reducing rinse rates, reclaiming cleaning water, and balancing rinse lines.

11.1 Million: Reuse Hydraulic Fluid Cooling Water

Running up from the hydroforming machines, overhead, and down in the finishing area in a series of copper and PVC pipes that resemble an Escher drawing is what Westgate calls the “Philips Aqueduct.” A 12-in. PVC pipe collects noncontact hydraulic fluid cooling water from the hydraulic forming equipment at one end of the plant and transports it about 700 feet through the facility to rinsing
stations of the finishing equipment at the other end of the plant (see Figure 1).

All of the hydraulic equipment uses noncontact cooling water in a heat exchanger to keep the hydraulic oil cool, Westgate explained. “Rather than dump it, we reuse it.

Figure 2
The oil and water monitor provides the assurance that the anodizing rinse water will not be contaminated in the event of a leak in the heat exchanger.

“The really neat part about the aqueduct is that although it runs 700 feet, it’s got a slight pitch to it, so there’re no pumps, no motors, so no breakdowns, no maintenance.

“Back when we installed it, we were moving 80,000 gallons per day, so there was an immediate reduction of 80,000 gallons of water per [operational] day.” Since the water project was completed, the amount of cooling water usage through area PLC valves has been reduced to 30,000 gallons per day.

Critical rinses in the anodizing process could not risk oil contamination, which could result from a leak in the heat exchanger and the hydraulic equipment, so the water reduction team installed an oil and water monitor to watch for cross-contamination to ensure quality (see Figure 2). Alarms alert personnel to divert water from rinses if a heat exchanger failure occurs.

“The oil and water monitor cost $20,000. Once we had the monitor to ensure that the product quality wouldn’t be affected, the annual savings from using the noncontact cooling water in the critical rinses was $46,000 a year. We saw a four- or five-month payback,” he said.

7 Million: Eliminate Wasted Cooling Water

Westgate said his team noticed that the spring-loaded temperature control valves in the aqueduct were not working well because they generated rust and other particulate that prevented the valves from seating properly. This resulted in wasted cooling water because much of it flowed through. They switched to solenoid-activated valves, which halted the flow-through. “A $7,000 investment; another 7 million gallons of water a year, and $30,441 saved.”

2.3 Million: Reduce Rinse Rates

Figure 3
Rinses in the 5-stage wash line were reduced from a 3- to 6- GPM overflow to a 0- to 1.5- GPM overflow.

Halving the overflow rinse rates in the 5-stage wash line and reducing system cleaning frequency and tank refill cost only $300 but saved 2.3 million gallons of water per year.

Many rinses in the 5-stage wash line were set at a 3- to 6-GPM overflow. Westgate’s team reduced rinses to 0- to 1.5-GPM overflow (see Figure 3). They also reduced the system cleaning frequency and tank refill.

Conductivity readings have determined that the water quality is sufficient for the product to be rinsed properly without any detrimental contamination.

Westgate said that without accurate measurement of a wet line—whether a cleaning or finishing line—it is easy to underestimate the amount of water being used. “So we bought a bunch of real simple flowmeters and put them in.” Westgate said. “For a $300 investment, we saved 2.3 million gallons of water a year. That saved $10,000.”

3.2 Million: Reclaim Cleaning Water by Using Counterflow Rinsing

Another water reclamation project centers around recycling and reclaiming the water used in cleaning after anodizing that saves 3.2 million gallons of water per year. “After it is treated, it is clean and OK to put in the sewer, but then we asked, Why sewer it? So we recycle it and reuse it,” Westgate said.

16 Million: Balance Lines.

“Balancing our rinses and anodizing lines, a minor investment of $11,000, saves gallons of water a year.”

Westgate said the team implemented many other small water use reduction efforts, such as changing the lawn irrigation schedule and changing out toilet flushometers, that contributed to the 62 percent reduction.

“So that’s how we got 60 million gallons of water a year savings. It’s not rocket science. You look around and see where you can make improvements.”

Philips Lightolier, 631 Airport Road, Fall River, MA 02720, 508-646-3341, [email protected], www.philips.com