WasteSaver™ Vacuum Distillation Evaporator Economically Recycles Millions of Gallons of Mill Wastewater

By demonstrating an ability to effectively reduce waste and recycle tremendous amounts of water, Samsco was selected to install a vacuum evaporator-based water recycling system at a large, northeast steel mill. The contract was aimed at recycling, annually, almost 23 million gallons of mill wastewater, and doing this more simply—and less expensively—than was possible with a more traditional, multiple-membrane approach. The mill’s objective was to return very high quality (low conductivity) water to the sheet steel cleaning/rinsing process, as well as to provide cooling tower makeup water.

Samsco installed two, dual-effect WS-1800 SAMSCO WASTESAVER™ units to provide high quality recycled water by significantly reducing chemical-laden wastewater at the steel plant.

Samsco WasteSaver™ evaporators significantly minimize the environmental impact of the mill’s three largest process wastewaters: pickle line rinse water, galvanizing alkaline rinse water, and oily water waste (from cold rolling mills). The majority of the amount of waste produced by the cold rolling steel operations is water. Each WS-1800 effectively removes the waste contaminants and returns the clean water to the process, thereby addressing two challenges the factory faces: (1) reducing or eliminating wastewater, and (2) minimizing the cost of clean water through recycling waste. Each of the WS-1800 units is capable of recycling 43,200 gallons of water every day. Together, the two units installed allow the mill to recycle up to 22.6 million gallons of water every year.

About the Mill

This site belongs to one of the largest recyclers of scrap steel in the United States. The firm’s affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities in numerous states. Products produced are: carbon and alloy steel in bars, beams, sheet, and plate; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; and metal building systems. The site was one of the first continuous thin-slab, cast, flat-rolled steel-making facilities in the USA.

About Samsco

Samsco Corporation, based in Goffstown, NH is a leading supplier of industrial wastewater evaporators. The company’s broad range of evaporation technologies includes the thermal Samsco Water Evaporator II, the RunDry “boil-to-dry” evaporator, the WasteSaver dual effect vacuum distillation evaporator, and the EnviroStill vacuum-aided, mechanical vapor recompression evaporator.