January 8, 2004 — The Pollution Prevention Assistance Division (P²AD) received the results of a six-month study of two pollution prevention (P2) technologies that were implemented at Metcam Advanced Metalworking during the first half of 2003. The results surpassed expectations, reducing Metcam's wastewater discharge and other costs for a total savings of $29,032 per year.

The Pollution Prevention Assistance Division (P²AD) is a non-regulatory division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Since 1993, P²AD has provided free, confidential environmental technical assistance in the areas of pollution prevention, resource conservation, waste reduction, by-product reuse and recycling. P²AD's clients include the manufacturing industry, commercial businesses, agriculture, institutions, the military, government and the citizens of Georgia.

"These results are even better than what we had anticipated," says Colin Kiefer, pollution prevention engineer for P²AD. "Metcam has shown that a metal finishing business can greatly improve the efficiency of their processes, while simultaneously achieving significant cost savings and environmental benefits."

Metcam is a mid-size metal fabricating and finishing company located in Alpharetta, Georgia. In the pilot project that ran from January through June 2003, Metcam demonstrated it could significantly reduce washer-related rejects, cleaner chemical use, and wastewater generation through the use of an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane system and rinse counterflow system.

By implementing these P2 technologies, Metcam realized a 78 percent reduction in operating costs related to wastewater evaporation and cleaner chemical use, reduced its wastewater generation by 94.5 percent, reduced chemical use by 64 percent and improved the quality of their product by 51 percent. Metcam also avoided purchasing a $42,400 evaporator system that would have been needed to handle its increasing wastewater output.

"The first step in convincing businesses to adopt a new technology is to prove that it works," says Kiefer. "I'm grateful to Metcam for working with us on this pilot project, and for their help in making the P2 technologies more appealing to other companies."