Zero Liquid-Discharge System Helps Plant Recycle Wastewater

摘要

International Truck and Engine Corp. (Warrenville, Ill) operates a 100,332-m~2 (1,080,000-ft~2) assembly plant located in the middle of Mexico's northern desert. The plant, opened in 1998 in Escobedo, Nuevo Leon, requires several thousand gallons of water daily to construct diesel engines and more than 200 medium-and heavy-duty trucks per day. International Truck and Engine is an operating company of Navistar International Corp. (Warrenville). The company produces commercial trucks, school buses, midrange diesel engines, and chassis for motor homes and step vans. It also designs and manufactures diesel engines for the pickup truck, van, and sports utility vehicle industry. Due to high costs and declining reserves, water is an increasingly valuable resource in Mexico. Therefore, using fresh water at the plant would unnecessarily place a high cost burden on the plant, as well as strain the local drinking water supply. Local discharge restrictions also prohibited the company from disposing of concentrated wastestreams, such as acid and caustic streams, in local waterways.