Water is a key component in many manufacturing processes, but keeping water sources clean and viable is a key area of focus for Honda facilities throughout the world.

At Honda Precision Parts of Georgia, LLC (HPPG), millions of gallons of water are taken from the Tallapoosa River every year for use in the plant before being treated and returned to the river.

That is why HPPG teamed with Caloris Engineering, LLC to use a Mechanical Vapor Recovery (MVR) system to treat the 12,000 gallons a day that the plant uses – primarily in its cooling towers – and recycle the water for continued use in the facility.

This innovative new process, which had previously been used primarily in the dairy industry, has resulted in recognition by Industrial Water and Wastes Digest, a national industry magazine.

“Our goal was to be able to recycle all of our industrial waste water for use back into the plant,” said HPPG Facilities Manager Wayne Karcz. “We had reached the treatment capacity of our old system, which meant that we were retreating the waste water prior to discharge, and while it was not a hazard, we wanted to do what we could to recycle our water and reduce our usage.”

The MVR system collects the plant’s wastewater and evaporates it, leaving the metal and oil byproducts behind to be collected. The water is then pumped through carbon filters, thus leaving it clean enough to be recycled for non-potable uses in the plant. This was the first time that the MVR system had been used to treat wastewater, and since its inception in July 2016, has shown the potential to recycle up to 3 million gallons per year.

Industrial Water and Wastes Digest will present HPPG with one of its Top Project Winners for 2016 awards at the Water Group Awards Night in New Orleans on Monday, September 26.

“At HPPG, it’s a pretty big deal,” Karcz said. “There aren’t any plants using evaporation for wastewater recycling, it reduces water and energy use and helps us preserve the water source for everyone in the area.”