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Contaminated Rinse Water

Over the weekend we have some 100 gallons of water soluble glue mixed with 125,000 gallons of water, which is used as a process water for paintlines and other equipments. The glue base is "Synthetic Polymer".

1. What would be the impact on our finishing quality. The phosphate seems normal and there is no loss of adhesion. Comments / Advise please...?

2. How can we set-up and what kind of filtartion set-up can we put in place to filter this water...?

An urgent help is greatly appreciated

Saleem Muhammad
Filing Cabinets - Brampton, ON, Canada
2005

Ed. note: Hello, Saleem. Hopefully someone can address this problem, but if you need urgent help, please retain a consultant or service company. This is a public forum, directed towards general education not immediate response, and the best answers could come in months or years from now. Good luck.

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2005

Saleem: The glue will presumably be a large organic molecule. Get the details on the glue. The options open to you are:
1. A low MWCO (molecular weight cutoff) ultrafiltration system.
2. If 1 not suitable, a very loose nanofilter.
3. A bentonite media that has charged quartenary amine groups on it. Somewhere, someplace, you will find people selling it. I remember the product code as PM-100, but cannot remember the manufacturer.

I suspect option 1 will be suitable and affordable for you. You will need to run the system at high recovery. You may lose 2% of your 125,000 as contaminated water.

Hope this helps.

Juzer Jangbarwala
- Brea, California