sustainability & the environment
Water treatment processes deliver with double benefits
A Newbury electronics company has completed the installation of a water treatment and recycling facility that not only saves water, but also expects to bring an annual water bill reduction of £10,000.
The company, Newbury Electronics, has installed the system at its printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing site in Newbury. It has comprehensively replumbed its wastewater pipework allowing it to recycle clean water back into the PCB manufacturing process, and also invested in two filters to clean-up copper contamination at source.
Managing director Philip King said: “Our water usage is metered and annual bills have now reached £30,000. Many of the processes involved in the production of our PCBs are exothermic, which means that substantial amounts of water are required for cooling. Rather than discharge this to drain, it can now be recycled within our process plant. Not only are we keen to save
water but we estimate that once all the new filtering and recycling equipment is up and running it will enable us to save in the region of £10,000 a year.”
As well as significant water and cost savings, the filters separate and trap fine copper particles on moving rolls of filter paper, and these too can be recycled.
“Copper is one of the main contaminants from the production process, and the company can be tested at any time to check that it is not releasing impurities in to drain,” said King. The new filters are capable of filtering copper contamination directly from the 50 litres of water used every minute in the brush cleaning processes. Before discharge to drain, the effluent passes through two further cartridge filters and a sand filter. For final treatment, it passes through two tonnes of activated carbon, which is key to the final filtration clean-up process.
Newbury Electronics offers its customers
some of the most advanced contract electronic manufacturing (CEM) solutions available in the UK. King said: “The company has been trading for nearly 60 years, during which time it has kept in step with changes in both electronics and manufacturing.”
newburyelectronics.co.uk
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Peter Brett Associates
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER 16/JANUARY 17
businessmag.co.uk
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