This article discusses the importance of industrial oil/water separators in various manufacturing processes. It explains what an oil/water separator is, how it works using gravity or coalescing methods, and its benefits in separating oil from wastewater. The article emphasizes the role of oil/water separators in improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring environmental protection in industrial facilities.

The cans of baby formula invaded Brian Jackson’s Dartmouth College lab late in 2010. His team picked up an armful of popular brands at the food co-op in Hanover, N.H. Then another armload. Eventually Jackson had a cabinet full of the brightly labeled canisters. Today, he still keeps a few in his office. Not as clutter — that’s not his style. He just likes to keep his toxicology evidence close at hand. A 47-year-old analytical chemist with sandy-gray hair and blue eyes, Jackson has a chemist’s passion for the picky details of analysis, the skill his colleagues tapped when they asked him to investigate a disturbing possibility: that baby foods and formulas made with rice might contain arsenic, a known carcinogen. Ingested even at the trace levels the scientists suspected, devastating health outcomes could result. In a first round of tests, arsenic levels in all the products Jackson’s group studied fell within the 10 parts per billion safety limit the EPA sets for water. (There is no limit for arsenic for most foods.) But a short time later, while shopping at the co-op, Jackson noticed two brands of toddler formula, both high-end organic products, that his team had missed on the first sweep. This time, to the team’s surprise, the arsenic readings flew off the chart. “My first thought,” Jackson says, “was that I’d better reanalyze these samples in case I’d screwed up.” His second thought, after confirming the readings, was to wonder: What made the arsenic levels spike in those two cans? In answering that question, Jackson traced not just the story of the metal-loving rice plant, but also the tangled and troubling path of a notorious poison through our past and present. A naturally occurring metallic element, arsenic permeates the Earth’s crust. Glinting silver-gray in rocks and soils, it mixes with other minerals as it seeps into water supplies, drifts on the dusty plumes of volcanic eruptions and travels on the wind. It also spreads through industrial use, from mining to agriculture. Arsenic coils like a dark smoke through our history. The word derives from the ancient Greek arsenikon, meaning “potent.” It was used to describe the compound arsenic trioxide, which can be lethal at 100 milligrams, about one-fiftieth of a teaspoon. Arsenic trioxide is famously tasteless and odorless, which helped make it one of the most frequently used homicidal poisons in history. But in recent years, studies have revealed that exposure to far smaller doses poses a more subtle — but also insidious — threat. The pure element arsenic mixes into many compounds, either organic (in chemical lingo, meaning that it contains carbon) or inorganic (without carbon). And even at concentrations of parts per billion (ppb), closer to a drop in a swimming pool than a drop in a teacup, long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic — generally considered the most toxic form — has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Although arsenic hasn’t been studied in as much detail as other toxins found in industrial materials, such as mercury or PCBs, scientists say it underscores the finding that minute exposures to such substances can do great harm. At low doses, arsenic doesn’t overwhelm body systems immediately or even cause death over the course of months. Rather, explains Dartmouth molecular toxicologist Joshua Hamilton, chronic exposure to trace arsenic inflicts damage at a cellular level, increasing the body’s vulnerability to a wide array of sicknesses, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. While trace arsenic won’t kill on its own, he says, it “seems to make everything worse.” For decades, officials have focused on trace arsenic in drinking water as the chemical’s primary public health threat; in 2001, the EPA dropped the limit for arsenic in water from 50 ppb to 10 ppb. But in the past few years, regulators have also begun to worry about exposure from foods and beverages. This summer, concerned about arsenic in pesticide residues found in imported juices, the FDA announced it will limit the amount of arsenic allowed in apple juice to 10 ppb, the same amount permitted in water. The FDA has also investigated arsenic’s presence in other foods. Chicken, for example, has come under scrutiny because of the longtime use of an arsenic additive in poultry feed. But the top-priority food on the list is rice, which became a focus when researchers realized that it takes up inorganic arsenic from soil far more efficiently than other grains. A July study revealed the first evidence directly linking consumption of rice containing arsenic to genetic damage in humans. Such findings are especially alarming because rice is a major part of the diet in certain communities, such as those with an Asian heritage, and because rice is a staple for infants and young children, whose developing bodies and brains are especially vulnerable to harm. It’s that last concern that sparked the formula studies in Jackson’s Dartmouth lab.

Many self-serve carwash owners think that going green is just a dream. The dozing duo of re-pair costs and utility bills make it seem im-possible for operators to wake the sleeping beauty of forward-thinking investments. What owners need now is a knight in shin-ing armor, a gallant hero astride a steed of eco-friendly savings. In this instance, the dreamy knight gal-loping forth could be a water reclaim sys-tem. A reclaim system is rare in that it helps a carwash go green while revitalizing profi ts and paying for itself. The systems enable a 50 percent to 75 percent reduction in water usage, and they can signifi cantly reduce or eliminate sewer costs as well. As owners can tell you, savings like these will help any car-wash’s story end with “happily ever after.” Cutting consumption and discharge Today, the price and availability of water has become one of the most stressing oper-ator concerns. Conservation measures such as restricted operating hours, shut downs, drastic increases in water and sewer pric-es and outrageous impact fees or fi nes have most owners desperately looking for ways to conserve water, according to Dean Taylor with CATEC Water Recovery and Ozone Systems. Taylor said recycling water is the most effective method to reduce water consump-tion, sewer discharge and high sewer impact fees in new construction. “These sav-ings are typically substantially more than the cost of a recycling system itself, and they offer a quick return on investment and a substantial increase in profi ts,” he said. In most areas, sewer fees are calculated directly from water consumption, and the fees often run 200 percent to 300 percent more than water costs, Taylor said. Thus, when water consumption is reduced up to 70 percent, high sewer costs should be reduced at the same time. Further, with a good water reclaim system, a self-serve carwash can be built that will not need to discharge anything into sewers. Uses and Installation Reclaimed water is basically wash water that has been filtered and treated with bacteria control. This recycled water should generally be good for high-pressure applications, and this can include high-pressure soap and other functions, Taylor explained. Depending on the final rinse options, re-claim can sometimes be used as a first rinse, which is usually a high-pressure application as well. In a self-serve wash, fresh water usage will typically be needed only for low-consumption options. These include pre-soak, tire and wheel applications and foaming brush uses, Taylor said. The water used here is minimal, and the necessary chemicals mix better with fresh water. The difficulty of retrofitting a system into an existing wash depends on a lot of variables. First, Taylor said process tanks will need to be placed in-ground or above-ground. Other questions to consider are: How far can the tanks be from the equipment? Is there space in the equipment room? Where do the trenches need to be cut for pipes? In new construction, a reclaim system can be designed into the site plan. The tanks and system can usually be located close, and most piping is completed prior to asphalt or concrete being laid. “Once the piping and tanks are in place, it usually takes a plumber a day or two to install and have the unit operating,” Taylor said.