Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd

This represents a 32.5 per cent water reduction for Godfrey Hirst Australia’s carpet dyeing operations, equating to 85ML of water over the course of a year, or around 85 Olympic sized swimming pools.

Current technology uses large liquid ring vacuum pumps to extract excess water from dyed carpet; during this process, a rotating ring of fresh potable water (called ‘seal water’) achieves the pumping action inside a cylindrical housing and is discharged continuously from each pump.

Godfrey Hirst has developed a system to capture and treat the seal water so that it can be reused into each pump on a closed-loop, continuous basis.

“A comprehensive environmental audit of our manufacturing processes identified carpet dyeing as the area with most potential for water saving,” says Mr Brian Cassidy, Engineering Manager at Godfrey Hirst Australia. “Now we have found a way for the system to dramatically reduce the amount of water involved in carpet dyeing.”

In order to get the system up and running Godfrey Hirst Australia had to implement fibre removal systems, a heat exchanger/cooling tower system, continual monitoring equipment, extensive piping and plumbing networks and electrical control systems to ensure that the vacuum pumps never run without seal water.

“The reduced water usage costs over time will more than compensate,” says Mr Cassidy.