Water Conservation,
Recycle, & Reuse
The Powder Coating industry demands a high volume of high-purity water to support production. High-purity water is used
to clean and pretreat parts and to facilitate unit operations. With rising costs in Utility prices and increased company movement
towards sustainability, water use reduction is becoming essential to the powder coating industry.

The reduction in consumption has been accomplished through reuse and reclaim processes that haveresulted in a lowered
total amount of water consumed. Water use reduction, if implemented correctly, translates to a reduction in cost. However, this
cost saving is only one reason to reduce water. A growing customer demand for industrial environmental responsibility has
prompted several companies to develop environmental management systems (EMS) and to become International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certified. Certification to the ISO 14001 standard is partly based on the requirements for a
company's EMS to identify the environmental aspects derived from their operations, set objectives and targets and to minimize
significant aspects, and commit to continual improvement. Reduction of water use has benefited companies in many ways,
including a reduction in cost, increased efficiency of operations, and reduction in use of natural resources in an environmentally
conscious community. Wastewater discharge can be reduced significantly by the elimination of an unneeded prerinse step
or by counterflowing rinse baths and then reclaiming the used rinse water.

The powder coating industry is just emerging from it's infancy. With regard to water and related issues, this industry began
by using water as a utility. Water was used for coolant, heat transfer, rinsing, cleaning, and chemical solution preparation.
During the infancy period of the powder coating industry, water was relatively abundant and relatively inexpensive. With water
plentiful and cheap, water was also taken for granted. As the industry developed during the past two decades, relatively large
quantities of water were used on a once-through basis. Even high purity final-rinse water was not conserved, recycled, or
reused in the same application. Industrial times were not only good, they were great! The use of water in the Powder Coating
industry continued to grow. The reuse and conservation of water continued to be neglected. An interesting result occurred.
Water is becoming the target for public visibility.

In addition, two other interesting results put pressure on water-related issues. First, because the industry grew rapidly and
because corrosion science tends to not be widely understood, older plants and productions facilities (washers) simply began
to leak. Recall that they were originally erected rapidly and often with less than the most sophisticated engineering. Multiple
materials in contact with each other; corrosion resulted and leaks occurred. Leaks, sludge and scale buildup, plugged spray
nozzles all represented DOWNTIME. Downtime promised to ruin the industry economics. A related, but more poorly under-
stood issue occured with water. The amount and type of contaminant found in raw water supplies throughout the industry
varied considerably and mineral hardness, bicarbonate alkalinity, and total dissolved solids content would begin to affect the
chemistry in washers and that in turn affected paint adhesion. This problem was neglected because water was considered a
utility rather than a product! An industry that began by taking water for granted had now grown to where water had become a
major problem. The management of water promises to dominate much of the next two decades of changes in the Powder
Coating industry. The use of water in the washers is complicated both by the wide variety of materials that have historically
been used in these water-transporting systems and also by the chemicals that are historically added to the water in order to
control unwanted water-formed scale or debris, biological fouling, and many types of corrosion. The addition of these chemicals,
phosphates, cleaners, and sealers coupled with the natural chemical concentration that occurs when water is evaporated,
are requiring that the Powder Coating industry either be staffed with water-managing personnel or that the industry outsources
responsibility to companies capable of performing this function as service vendors.

Whatever the case, wastes and wastewaters are generated through the use of these waters that must be contained, managed,
and appropriately disposed. The costs associated with these processes are no longer trivial; they are significant production
costs. NO LONGER IS WATER AN INEXPENSIVE COMMODITY TO BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED BY THE INDUSTRY. The first
step in management of any water and wastewater is awareness. As companies begin to find out that many of their waters can
be reused internally by containing them and repurifying them, they are also finding that the process involved is so simple that it
is often cost effective to reclaim the water. This is particularly true when membrane processes are used to treat water because
the recovery of water for reuse is extremely high, typically 80% - 95%. The practice of conservation is new to the industry,
however it is becoming a way of life. New facilities are being constructed with water conservation, recycle, and reuse engineered
as part of their design. It is anticipated that this will continue into the future.

Shown here are dozens of chemical drums which many companies use and then dump down the drain. The environmental impact of these acids, caustics, phosphates, and cleaners are no longer trivial. Significant reductions of waste can be accomplished through water conservation and reuse practices. No longer is water an expensive commodity to be taken for granted by the industry.