02/21/95
CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558
SLAC's Plating Shop and its associated Rinse Water Treatment Facility were selected as the "1994 Industrial and Hazardous Waste Facility of the Year" for Northern California by the California Water Pollution Control Association. The annual award, announced on Feb. 7, is given to recognize outstanding achievement in the area of waste water management.
The Plating Shop performs surface finishing on metal parts used for accelerator maintenance or for research projects at SLAC. This process generates large volumes of rinse water containing heavy metals. The Rinse Water Treatment Facility collects this rinse water, adjusts its pH and removes contaminants by precipitation before releasing the water into the sewer system.
"This award belongs to all of SLAC," said Ali Farvid, plating shop supervisor, stressing the cooperative effort that went into creating an efficient waste water reduction system. He and George Laxson, the Rinse Water Treatment Facility supervisor, worked with the SLAC administration to obtain funding. Then, together with Plant Engineer Jim Ogg and the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department staff, they created and implemented the waste-reduction measures that are being recognized.
Between 1990 and 1992 the Plating Shop and Rinse Water Treatment Facility reduced chemical costs by 50 percent, waste sludge volume by 70 percent and water volume use by 46 percent (860,000 gallons). Farvid envisions a time when the two facilities will work as a closed-loop system, continuously recycling the rinse water.
SLAC and other nominees will now compete for statewide awards that will be announced in April at the annual convention of the California Water Pollution Control Association.
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