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UK Industry in Danger of Flushing Money Down the Drain, says Leading Expert

16 April 2007

A leading expert has warned that claims of ignorance will not wash with prosecutors trying to tighten machine effluent regulations.

Colin Worthington, General Manager for the Vibratory Mass Finishing Division at Wheelabrator Group told a waste management seminar in Birmingham that many companies using surface preparation equipment were failing to comply with UK legislation, by flushing contaminated machine effluent down the drain.

Speaking at the seminar, organised by the Institute of Metal Finishing, Mr Worthington said: “Effluent from vibratory mass finishing equipment is made up of the original process water and compound, contaminated by metal fines, broken down media, oil and other debris on the components being processed.

“Together this can potentially be a toxic mix, capable of causing extensive environmental damage, and, quite rightly, washing this down the drain contravenes UK regulations. Businesses actively flouting the rules are at risk of heavy fines and must accept the damage this is likely to cause to their reputations when they get caught.“

Metal finishing equipment is widely used in a variety of sectors, including the aerospace, general and precision engineering, automotive and medical industries.    

Mr Worthington warned delegates that all industrial users of mass finishing and associated process equipment must apply for an official consent to discharge to drain, issued by the local water authority.

This will relate to foul sewers, not storm water drains, and set out acceptable effluent discharge levels, including nature and composition of the effluent, ph levels, chemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, and temperature, among other things. It will also include a trade effluent charge, calculated by using a method known as the Mogden Formula.

Mr Worthington said: “Historically this has been an area of low awareness in the UK, but ignorance is no excuse with the authorities increasingly clamping down on companies blatantly disregarding the rules.

“Discharging untreated effluent from vibratory mass finishing became illegal after the 1991 Water Industry Act was introduced. If you don’t apply for official consent, the only legal option is to containerise the liquor and employ the services of an officially-licensed waste management and treatment company, but this can be expensive, inconvenient and inflexible.”

Mr Worthington advised delegates the most cost effective option was to operate under an official consent agreement, treating effluent before it was discharged, to maintain limits within the set parameters and therefore incur only a minimal local authority charge. 

He then talked delegates through an overview of centrifugal systems, based on filters, which are capable of removing up to 99 per cent of solids from process water, enabling full process recycling.

Mr Worthington said: “Centrifugal systems have been developed in the last 10 years and use high g forces to remove sludge. They are compact and easily automated, making them a simple and cost-effective addition to existing machinery.

“The environmental benefits of considered machine effluent treatment are two-fold. Not only is it better not to discharge effluent in the first place, but recycling techniques can help reduce water and process compound consumption, which will in turn save money.

“We manufacture centrifugal filters compatible with virtually any vibratory finishing equipment and capable of processing effluent from individual or multiple machines. These remove sludge, which can be disposed of as a harmless solid, while returning the water and compound to the machine ready for use.”

Wheelabrator Group is the world-leading manufacturer of surface preparation and finishing equipment. It owns, designs, manufactures and provides wheelblast, airblast and vibratory mass finishing equipment for surface preparation and cleaning, and serves a variety of sectors, including the aerospace and automotive industries. Further information can be found at http://www.wheelabratorgroup.com

For product enquiries or to arrange a visit to Wheelabrator Group’s Surface Technology Centre, please contact: Corinna Teale, Sales Co-ordinator, Wheelabrator Group, on 0121 326 6481 or uk-info@wheelabratorgroup.co.uk.

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