MacDermid Envio Upgrades Aerospace Wastewater System & Improves Rinse Water Quality

Manufacturers need capable wastewater treatment solutions

Aerospace facilities are among the most high-tech plants in manufacturing and require efficient, effective wastewater treatment systems. However, even the top aerospace manufacturers and suppliers can find it difficult to make good wastewater treatment decisions due to the complicated nature of the many processes involved in their manufacturing processes. There’s also an opportunity to use treated city water and wastewater to produce higher quality products. As an approved supplier to 20 aerospace manufacturers at multiples facilities all over the U.S., MacDermid Envio is the ideal wastewater treatment partner.

Antiquated system foils aerospace manufacturer’s wastewater treatment

A large Wichita-area aerospace manufacturer with five types of metal finishing lines (anodizing, pre-penetrant etches, chemical film, passivation, and other) could not provide enough high-quality rinse water to meet their product demand. In industries involving metal plating and surface finishing, it is important to have high-quality water. Many times, even city water must be treated before use. Their existing 20-year-old wastewater treatment system had been repaired many times and was incapable of increased capacity too. Further, the pure water system could not produce enough clean water for rinsing.

The aerospace manufacturer knew of MacDermid Envio’s excellent local reputation through other industry firms. They contacted us with the goals of increasing rinse water quality and quantity and meeting discharge limitations without losing production time.

Integration of legacy equipment reduces upgrade costs and staged installation minimizes production delays

MacDermid Envio performed a complete water survey of the facility. We sampled all process lines and observed daily operations. We analyzed many samples at no cost and drew on our experience to develop the design.

The project was delayed several times as facility ownership changed, but the problems did not disappear—a large increase in aircraft production (a good problem to have!) further increased the facility’s workload. MacDermid Envio proposed a staged installation schedule to minimize production delays. As planned, the project was installed successfully without loss of production.

Our main recommendation was to re-pipe a portion of the facility to separate low-Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and high-TDS rinses. Low-TDS rinses would be processed in an efficient water recycling system and high-TDS rinses would be combined with spent chemical baths, treated in a new conventional wastewater treatment system and discharged. To reduce costs, a large portion of the existing equipment was included in the new MacDermid Envio design.