2010
May 24, 2010
Reinforcing Wastewater Reclamation in China, through Comprehensive Capabilities in Water Treatment Chemicals, Facilities, and Maintenance Business
～Supporting GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. in Effective Use of Water Resources～
Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku Tokyo, President: Hiroshi Saito) believes that the key to solving global water issues is to focus not on the scarcity of water but on how to make effective use of the water resources circulating through the Earth in a sustainable manner. Based on this belief, Kurita is committed to supporting its customers to improve their productivity and reduce their environmental impact by proposing water management solutions in the field of industrial water usage, in which Kurita has long business experience. Through these solutions, customers will be able to use water of appropriate quality and quantity whenever and wherever they need it.
Under the medium-term management plan MP-11, launched last April, Kurita has been implementing measures to expand global business. In recent years, Kurita has been strengthening its business, particularly in China, positioning the Chinese market as especially important for the company. Specifically, in this country, Kurita is more proactively proposing and delivering solutions for the effective use of water resources through industrial wastewater reclamation, targeting the electronics industry and also general industries, including the automobile and food industries. The following article outlines Kurita's business initiatives in China and introduces a specific example of Kurita's wastewater reclamation solutions—one that the company has provided to GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (GTMC), through comprehensive capabilities in water treatment chemicals, facilities, and maintenance service.
1. Kurita's Business Initiatives in China
1) History
- (1)Kurita has long been engaged in industrial wastewater treatment in China. The company participated in a project for Wuhan Iron & Steel in 1974, and also in a project for Baoshan Iron & Steel in 1978. Kurita has thus provided water treatment facilities and chemicals in the country for more than 30 years.
- (2)At present, Kurita is comprehensively conducting water treatment business and providing customers with highly respected technologies and services that have achieved tangible results in Japan, to meet customer needs.
- (3)This April, Kurita established the Water/Resources Recycling Project Department within its Facilities Division to further foster its business in overseas markets, particularly in China. Through this new department, the company will reinforce its "water reclamation" and "resource reclamation" businesses, which make it possible to recover and reuse industrial wastewater, and to recover and reuse the valuable substances contained in wastewater, respectively.
2) Business bases in China
In China, as in Japan, Kurita has established bases from which to conduct its water treatment business in a comprehensive manner by combining our expertise in water treatment chemicals, facilities, and maintenance services.
- (1)Base for the manufacture and sale of water treatment chemicals:
Kurita Water Industries (Dalian) Co., Ltd. (established 1995) - (2)Base for the manufacture, sale, and maintenance service of water treatment facilities:
Kuritec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (established 2001)
Kurita Water Industries (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (established 2004)
3) Reclamation of industrial wastewater
In China, water consumption has been rapidly increasing due to high economic growth, and problems such as water shortages and pollution are becoming obvious. In response, the Chinese government is strengthening laws and regulations on the recovery of water and on the maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) allowed in wastewater. Against this backdrop, Kurita is providing local customers operating in a range of industrial fields, including the automobile, iron and steel, and electronics industries, with products and services for the recovery and reuse of wastewater from their factories and facilities, thereby enabling them to meet the legal requirements to reduce their environmental impact and water usage. Kurita has facilitated a number of achievements in the recovery and treatment of wastewater in the country, as shown in the following example.
2. Case Study: Delivering Water Management (Wastewater Reclamation) Solution to GAC Toyota Motor
1) GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.
GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (GTMC), one of Kurita's customers in China, is an automobile manufacturing and sales company located in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Its factory is a leading automobile manufacturing site in China, equipped with the world's cutting-edge systems. GTMC is committed to becoming the top runner in environmental improvements and to contributing to local communities and society as a good corporate citizen.
2) Outline of the water management (wastewater reclamation) solution
Kurita delivered a wastewater recovery and reuse system (maximum treatment capacity: 4,850 tons per day), including RO membrane equipment, UF membrane equipment, and a wastewater treatment tower with multiple activated carbon filters, to the GTMC factory in December 2008. Through using this system, the factory is now recovering, recycling, and reusing 2,100 tons of wastewater, which account for 70% of the total amount handled at its treatment facilities (3,000 tons per day). The treated water is used as industrial water, including as a make-up supply for circulating water in painting booths and for cooling water. Moreover, the factory is making effective use of the remaining 30% (concentrated wastewater, such as that flowing from the RO membrane equipment) within its premises after removing COD (organic matter contained in the wastewater).
In addition to the delivery of the system, Kurita also provides water treatment chemicals to GTMC, including RO membrane treatment stabilizers and chemicals to prevent the recycled water and cooling water from becoming dirty and corrosive. This helps the factory operate its facilities in a stable and efficient manner and achieve optimal water management across the factory.
3) Description of major products and services
- (1)Wastewater recovery through RO and UF membrane treatment
Kurita builds and delivers an optimal water treatment system for each customer, combining RO and UF membranes and other water treatment facilities incorporating the technologies necessary to recover and reuse wastewater from the customer's manufacturing processes, carefully considering the water quality and quantity. - (2)Wastewater treatment tower with multiple activated carbon filters
This advanced treatment unit effectively removes COD utilizing activated carbon, thereby contributing to the reduction of environment impact. Kurita has increased the efficiency of activated carbon and succeeded in providing continuous treatment by adopting its own unique technologies and know-how, such as those for upward water flow and multi-stage treatment.
Kurita has proven experience in a range of fields in Japan in utilizing the carbon tower, and GTMC became the first company in China to which Kurita delivered the system. - (3)RO membrane treatment chemicals
With regard to wastewater recovery and reuse facilities, Kurita's RO membrane treatment chemicals help prevent reductions in the amount of water flowing through the RO membrane caused by slime and clogging, thereby maintaining the optimal quality of the treated water and contributing to the stabilization of the RO membrane treatment.
Wastewater recovery and reuse system delivered by Kurita
Wastewater treatment tower with multiple activated carbon filters
RO membrane treatment equipment
3. Future Developments
In China, the need to reduce environmental impact and water consumption will increase further, which will in turn expand the market for wastewater reclamation (recovery and reuse) systems. The Water/Resources Recycling Project Department, which was launched this April, will lead Kurita's business in this field. Kurita will provide customers in a range of fields, including the electronics, automobile, and food industries, as well as the coating industry—on which stricter regulations are being imposed, with water management solutions. By providing these solutions, Kurita works to enhance its customers' productivity and reduce their environmental impact through the effective use of valuable water resources.