Reusing Concrete Truck Washout Water
This is one of the more than 30 entries in the Construction Innovation Forum’s 2008 NOVA awards and it stands to help make concrete operations a little bit more environmentally friendly.
Called Envirowash, this system is a closed-loop recycling process for the water that is used in cleaning out concrete truck drums. All the washout water is recycled, treated and available for reuse. The additional benefit to using the system according to Water Crete Systems, the maker, is that nearly 100 percent of ground and rain water contamination is eliminated.
The captured concrete is available for reuse as road base. Currently, the company claims that EPA approved washout pits have a couple of
deficiencies. Since they are not covered, overflows occur, spilling up to 50 different metals on surfaces where they can runoff and contaminate waterways and ground water. Additionally, only part of the waste concrete can be recovered from these pits so much of it ends up being dumped in landfills. Of course there is a lot of water saved by using this system since the water is reused indefinitely, only needing to be topped up to replace water lost to overspray and evaporation.
What a great idea! It seems there had to be a better way for concrete operations to clean up. They need to keep working on it though to find a solution to the problems of overflows and a way to increase the use of the waste concrete recovered. Now if they can do this so it’s not overly expensive for all businesses working with concrete to use then maybe it can be put to use everywhere saving our waterways, groundwater and other resources.
We have been useing the EnviroWash concrete washout system. For over two years now, have found that it cost us around 30% less then maintaining a plastic lined pit and as much as 50% less then some of the other portable concrte washout pits on the market.