ABSTRACT
This case study focuses on two waste-water reduction issues by using experiences at a textile plant as examples. The first issue addressed is that waste-water is often ignored in pollution prevention (P2) surveys. This may happen because of the relatively low cost of waste-water treatment and disposal on a per unit basis compared with hazardous waste or even solid waste. If an industry is on a municipal publicly owned treatment works (POTW) , the cost may only be pennies per gallon for water and sewerage. In contrast, hazardous waste disposal may cost up to US$IO per gallon. Many managers think that waste disposal is the primary cost for waste. In fact, the primary cost of waste for most manufacturing facilities is in lost raw materials. Another factor that contributes to wastewater being ignored is that materials in sewer pipes are usually hidden from view. This 'out of sight, out of mind' attitude together with the low disposal cost per gallon leads many industries to overlook valuable raw materials that they are literally allowing to go down the drain. For example, textile dyeing operations normally generate a lot of wastewater. This waste-water often contains expensive chemicals and recoverable heat energy that many times are overlooked because water (raw material) and sewerage (disposal) services are relatively inexpensive for most facilities.
