One of the challenges in concrete production is the amount of waste water that is created by the necessary process of washing the truck mixers and the batching plants. The drained water can easily flood over the disposal sites causing harm to the surrounding environment. With Polarmatic’s German partner, AJF Engineering Group GmbH, a developer and manufacturer of innovative water treatment plants, we have succeeded in providing a sustainable solution for waste water treatment – automatic water recycling plant.
The containerized unit is called CWAS and, the goal of this automatic recycling plant is to have a closed water cycle and to deplete the water waste. The water is treated in a way that it can be reused in concrete production in a safe and sustainable way. Depending on the specifications of the concrete to be produced, the water can be reused 100% without adding any fresh water. On top of that, the water will be cleaned only to a certain water density, max. 1,07 kg/l or 1,05 kg/l, in contrast to the conventional plants. This will naturally lower the overall costs of the water disposal.
As for the concrete water sediments, only the particles smaller than 0,2 mm in diameter, will be washed out with the water. The larger particles that are coming out from the recycling plant can be reused as aggregates. The recycled granulates can also e.g. be used by farmers as a soil improvement material, which has already been tested in practise. This material could also be used in the concrete production process as a recycled material and, the Finnish concrete producer Lujabetoni Oy has already made some testing in their production. However, it has not yet been implemented in their production although they see a big potential in it.
According to Lujabetoni’s Service Manager, Timo Röyttä, they had earlier been struggling with the capacity of their washing stations, but now having the AJF recycling plant in use, they see they have more possibilities for having more efficient and environmentally friendly solution for their trucks. The recycling plant works automatically and it controls the water density 24 h/day. This ensures constant production conditions independently without manpower and it can solve the issue of water waste meaning also that their customers will avoid paying the additional disposal costs.
CWAS is a complete system enabling independent concrete production, which will additionally create an environment that is more sustainable and green.
