J&J Industries, the commercial carpet manufacturer based in Dalton, Ga., announced that its Aquafinity Water Reclamation System has reclaimed and reused more than one million gallons of water from its Dalton Campus.
J&J’s Aquafinity System is capable of removing dye and chemical additives from its industrial wastewater by using a blend of filters and reverse osmosis, according to the company. The past several months have been devoted to tuning of automatic control systems as the overall system has been brought up to full production capacity.
The filtration processes are helping J&J recover 80 to 90% of its dyehouse wastewater annually. “This system is a practical and economically feasible way to remove dye and other additives from industrial wastewater,” said Howard Elder, Director of Research and Environmental Affairs at J&J Industries. “The reuse of wastewater in carpet dyeing is an environmentally innovative process that J&J is proud to pioneer.”
The company has been tracking water reclamation since the system went live in March and reclamation has just passed the one million gallon mark. This year J&J Industries anticipates that 30 to 35 million gallons of dye house wastewater will be recycled by the Aquafinity System - removing dye and other chemical additives, and creating a warmer and more consistent end product for reuse in its dyehouse, the company noted.
“With the Aquafinity System we are going to see warmer, cleaner, and more consistent water than we have ever seen. That means we won’t have to use as much energy to warm the city’s 60 - 65 degree water. More consistent water for dyeing should improve quality in the dyeing process,” noted Jonathan Sierra, J&J’s Research Manager, “As a result, we expect to save 5 billion BTUs of energy each year (the equivalent energy to power 150 local homes for a full year).”
