Water abstraction and treatment system

Citation

(1999), "Water abstraction and treatment system", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 28 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.1999.12928faf.005

Water abstraction and treatment system

Keywords Water treatment, Textiles, Dyes, Kirtan Engineering

A Leicester textile company states that it is achieving substantial cost savings after switching from mains to river water for use in its dyehouse. The dyehouse process traditionally requires large quantities of water and, with its factory frequently operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Westdale Dyeing and Finishing Co. Ltd uses around 115,000 cubic metres a year. Before the changeover to river water this represented an annual cost of approximately £100,000 for the company. WDF is a leading ISO 9001 quality accredited dyer and finisher of fashion garment fabrics for the UK and overseas textile trade.

By installing a fully automatic water abstraction and treatment system, designed, manufactured, supplied and commissioned by Kirton Engineering Ltd, water is now extracted from a tributary of the River Soar, which runs at the rear of the factory. It is pumped to a containerised plant room housing the filtration vessels, which consist of two sand filters, two carbon filters and two water softeners. According to Kirton the treatment process removes any residual colour from the river water and softens it so that it can be used in the dyehouse.

A biocide is added to minimise the risk of micro biological contamination and the water is then pumped into existing water storage tanks for use by the dyeing plant, as required.

The treatment plant also measures the water for cloudiness and adds a chemical conditioner to clear it if necessary. If, due to the presence of large amounts of storm water, the conditioner cannot clear it sufficiently, the system is designed to automatically shut down. The dyehouse then switches over to the town’s mains supply until the treated river water is suitable for use.

The entire abstraction and treatment system is operated, through an electrical control panel, by a single 15kW pump that draws and delivers water over a distance of 150 metres. The self-contained treatment plant is housed in a purpose-designed 35 8 8ft container that reportedly can easily be moved to another position if required.

Said Westdale’s managing director, Richard Chaplin, “With the severe pressure on profit margins in the textile industry anything we can do to reduce our operating costs gives us even more of an advantage over our competitors. One of our biggest costs is water, which is why we decided to seek an alternative, cheaper supply, particularly as we have the advantage of a river running past the factory.

“After discussions with different companies in the water treatment business the Kirton system won hands down. This was due in part to the quality of their engineering and to their extensive and proven track record in the water reclamation and treatment industry. Equally as important was the small area needed to house their treatment plant, because space here is limited.”

According to Kirton the quality of the treated water has been tested by an independent laboratory and is totally biologically safe for the dyehouse process.

With substantial savings in water costs being achieved following the switch to river abstraction, even after taking into consideration the equipment’s purchase price and its running costs, Richard Chaplin confidently estimates that the system’s pay back period will be “a remarkably short period of time.” Kirton Engineering has also enabled Westdale to achieve additional savings by supplying, as part of the package, a 17 tonne capacity bulk storage tank to hold the salt needed to regenerate the softener process. This has allowed the company to have salt delivered by bulk tanker instead of in bags as before, giving it the combined advantages of lower costs plus reduced handling time.

Richard Chaplin added that in addition to benefiting from substantial savings in water costs, the company’s purchase of the abstraction and treatment system has to be welcome news for both the water industry and the local community. “It means that we no longer need to use vast quantities of top quality drinking water for what is purely an industrial process.”

Kirton Engineering’s sales manager, Pat Pickering added, “Our water abstraction and treatment systems are enjoying an expanding market at present, across a wide range of different industries and applications where large volumes of water are used, due to the significant cost savings that they can offer.”

“For companies that do not have the benefit of an adjacent river, canal or existing bore hole from which to abstract water, we can carry out a hydrological survey to determine whether a new bore hole is a feasible proposition. The survey will indicate whether water is of the right quality and is available in sufficient quantities for the particular process to be carried out.”

Kirton also informs us that it can assist with applications for Environment Agency abstraction licences’ as well as offering various finance options, such as “water broking”, as a possible alternative to initial outright capital purchase.

Further details are available from Kirton Engineering Ltd. Tel: + 44 (0) 1509 504565; Fax: +44 (0)1509 600011.