ELGA water system provides automotive paint solution
Paint manufacturer enjoys enhanced product consistency and reduced costs.
ELGA Process Water, a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies company, is helping Pro-Spray Automotive Finishes maintain product consistency on its latest environmentally-friendly refinishing paint. Due to the need for bacteria-free, deionised water at the company’s Biggleswade headquarters, Pro-Spray adopted ELGA Process Water’s proposal for an on-site demineralisation plant that would produce water of the specified quality as and when needed, eliminating the need for IBC handling and storage.
ELGA Process Water suggested that Pro-Spray produce the required deionised water on demand using a combination of reverse osmosis and ion exchange technologies. This would not only be more cost effective than buying IBCs in bulk but would guarantee the consistency of water, and hence repeatable product formulation.
So how does it work? Well, mains water is delivered into a break tank and then pumped to a MiniRO™ reverse osmosis plant that removes 95% of dissolved solids and 99% of organic contaminants and bacteria. The permeate from the MiniRO™ is collected in a tank and pumped through a UV disinfection unit, a cartridge filter and a service deionisation cylinder to produce deionised water of better than 0.5µS/cm conductivity. This is delivered to points of use on the manufacturing line via a ring main, with integrated meters ensuring continuous verification for quality control and audit purposes.
While Pro-Spray’s main objective was to ensure consistent deionised water quality, the company also discovered that the solution saves approximately 25p per litre of water compared with the cost of buying IBCs, an outcome that will provide payback in less than two years.
