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Cutting Copper and Saving Pennies

Three Silicon Valley manufacturers with historically high metals discharges have shown how pollution prevention measures can both protect the Estuary and save money. Although these measures required initial investments ranging from $2,000 to nearly $1 million, all are expected to pay for themselves within a few years. All significantly reduced, and in some cases eliminated, metals discharges to the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant, which ultimately discharges to the South Bay - a water body designated "impaired" under the Clean Water Act due to high metal levels. The Palo Alto plant has undertaken a number of projects to reduce metals discharges, many aimed at metal finishing and semiconductor manufacturing industries.

In response to the plant's new wastewater discharge limits for copper and nickel, Ramlor, Inc., a small manufacturer of printed circuit boards, converted its existing wastewater treatment system to allow water that was initially discharged to be reused. The company also installed a clean water storage tank, process piping, a recirculation pump, valves and filters, and improved rinsing techniques. As a result, Ramlor reduced its copper discharge to the city sewers from 1.1lbs/year to zero, eliminated permit requirements, monitoring requirements and fees, and reduced both raw material and total water bills. The total cost of improvements was approximately $2,000, which the company recovered in less than six months.

According to Ramlor's Robert Garcia, the company received encouragement from the Palo Alto plant. "They gave me hints on how I could save water and improve discharges and I saw that the changes would be easy to make. I wanted to help the Bay, and I'm happy with what we've been able to do." Another company, Davila International Circuits Inc., installed a new circuit board production technology, known as direct metalization, that allowed it to reduce the number of process solutions for metal plating from eight to three, cutting the number of rinses required. New rollers now remove copper-laden solution from circuit boards before rinsing and automatic spray rinses allow for more efficient water use. The company also made changes in the rinsing system for its oxide line which permit metal to be plated out of wastewater and recycled.

Direct metalization enabled Davila to increase its production by 48% while reducing its copper load by 91% and water use by 42%. Although production in the oxide line decreased by 4%, the improvements cut wastewater by 89% and copper load by 54%. The combined cost of the project was $125,800, with a payback within two years. The Palo Alto plant helped out with $75,000 from its funds for pollution prevention demonstration projects.

A third company, Watkins-Johnson, undertook an ambitious pollution prevention program as a result of a 1992 compliance agreement with the Palo Alto plant. In its metal finishing operations, the company initially employed rinse water reduction measures, which reduced the amount of water needing treatment and allowed the installation of a smaller, less expensive wastewater treatment and recycling system. The company then installed a system to remove metals and cyanide from plating line rinse waters, allowing the water to be recycled. The pricetag for the whole shebang came in at around $500,000, which was recovered within 28 months through reduced water use and materials costs.

Watkins-Johnson installed a similar system in its semiconductor fabrication unit, reducing wastewater discharge from approximately 3,500 gallons per day to zero at a cost of $350,000. However, surfectants and alcohols used in cleaning interfered with the recycling process, making modifications and additional expenditures necessary.

Watkins-Johnson's Rusty Fayter says the company made the investment because the writing on the wall was clear. "Zero discharge requirements are coming," he says.

Officials of the Palo Alto plant hope that the success of these efforts will encourage other metals discharges to take similar measures. The plant has compiled detailed reports on these projects and others, which it plans to send to metal finishers and circuit board manufacturers in the region as part of its ongoing outreach effort.

Contact: Janice Buzzwell (415)329-2514

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