Inowa builds a biological recycling system in Wels, Austria
Inowa is involved in an interesting recycling project in the Austrian city of Wels, where they currently deliver a fully biological washing water treatment for a conveyor tunnel car wash. According to Klaus Steiner from Inowa, biological treatment is the future. “A recycling rate up to 97% is possible.”
Inowa, the Austrian specialist in separation technology and wash water preparation plants, introduced its fully biological water treatment system C BIO at the trade fair UNITI, last year. They are currently building such a tank for a car wash. But not an ordinary car wash, we learn from Klaus Steiner.
What makes this specific project so special?
“The project is for a big car repair shop in Wels. They wash their own used cars to prepare them for sale as well as customer vehicles. The conveyor tunnel system is under construction and should open in September. It’s built for a Sadly I can’t disclose the name of the company just yet.”
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Does Austria have specific rules and regulations about water recycling, and are they different from neighboring countries like Germany and Switzerland?
“The national requirements differ a lot. Each automatic car wash (roll over or conveyor tunnel system) has to install a recycling system. In Austria we had the old ÖNORM B 5107. This means you have to recycle water if you use more than 5m³/day. But lot’s of the automatic car wash companies do not have any recycling system yet. I really do not know why the government does not apply the rules.”
Could you tell me a bit more about the water recycling for this particular site? How much water is recycled? And why is the biological aspect important?
“Water from the car wash is cleaned fully in a biological way by a fixed bed bioreactor which is situated in the underground basins. The fixed bed bioreactor is specifically calculated for each project. The result is crystal clear water without any kind of odor. Because of the quality of the recycled water you can use it in most of the washing processes. A recycling rate up to 97% (depending on the car wash machine) is possible.
Because of the developments in the car wash industry (think about power foam, high pressure wash, express wash, new cleaning agents) water can not only be cleaned by a sand filter. It is important to clean the water biologically. Recycling of water in a self service car wash is only possible by using biological systems.”
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Do you notice a growing interest in water recycling now parts of Europe are struck by continued drought and water measures?
“Yes, there is a growing interest in water recycling, especially in fully biological recycling systems, because of the high recycling rates. It’s a big difference if you work with recycling rates from 60 to 70% or with recycling rates up to 97%. It does not only save money, there are a lot of ecological aspects to take into account. Like:
-Saving water for the next generation
-Clean the water in a most effective way
-Use recycled water for self service car wash
-Longer life circle for filtration and car wash systems
-Clean wash boxes.”
You mention further C Bio projects in the near future. Could you elaborate a bit more on that?
“We are busy with about 15 to 20 other new biological projects. More news on that will follow soon.”
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