Arrow Linen Supply Co. Needs:

For more than 65 years, Arrow Linen and Supply Co. has served the Food and Beverage linen laundry needs in the New York City area. In 2013, Arrow constructed a new plant in Garden City, NY. At the time Nassau County had lenient limits on the discharge requirement of Arrow Linen. As the county updated wastewater plans and regulations, it became apparent Arrow Linen would fall under a mandate to reduce BOD/COD discharge. The action taken by Nassau County resulted in Arrow Linen exploring water recycling solutions that would reduce their BOD/COD limits at discharge to remain compliant with permit requirements.

Solution:

To achieve these goals, Kemco Systems proposed both a DAF and Kemco’s Patented KLEENWATER™ System, consisting of a ceramic microfiltration system, followed by reverse osmosis. Each technology was explored in full detail. Operational costs of each system, the effectiveness of treating for BOD/COD reduction, footprint and overall costs of the system, were all considered.

Arrow Linen’s intention was to garner as much water and energy savings as possible. An effective DAF system requires space for an equalization tank, which Arrow Linen didn’t have. With the expected cost increase of water and sewer, Arrow Linen selected Kemco’s KLEENWATER™ System. This cost-effective patented water recycling system will lower water use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to achieving the BOD discharge level requirements of the city.

Project Challenges

The project faced one major hurdle: overcoming a limited footprint in the boiler room for new equipment. Kemco’s design had to allow for serviceability of existing and new equipment, as well as concern for the maintenance team performing service.

Kemco worked with the client to modify not only the design of the equipment but to rework the layout of the space and provide interactive 3D renderings, allowing the client to view the proposed layout from the owner’s eye-level perspective. After several iterations, a final layout and overall project design were finalized. The overall layout included tanks, a ceramic membrane filtration unit and the reverse osmosis unit. 

A mezzanine was included in the design to help accommodate the limited footprint and product designs were reconsidered. For example, a typical ceramic membrane filtration unit is short and wide, but for this project, modifications were made that resulted in a taller, thinner, rowed design to accommodate the available space. 

Finally, Kemco constructed a mezzanine to support the reverse osmosis unit of the water recycling system. The stairway to the mezzanine had to be removable to support the overall flow of the space but allow access to the system. Overall, layout and design modifications allowed for a successful installation process, and even with the increased amount of overhead piping, the patented KLEENWATER™ water recycling system was successfully integrated into the existing boiler room.

Results

This solution presented Arrow Linen with high-quality recycled water, at up to a 72% recycle rate, virtually virus free, for use in their Milnor continuous batch washers. The KLEENWATER™ water recycling system presents a cost-effective means of removing all emulsified, suspended and dissolved contaminants from wastewater without utilizing high volumes of chemicals.

The plant now meets the city BOD discharge requirements while significantly reducing water use, chemical costs and gas usage.

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