Cash Outflow Turned Off. Savings Turned On.

Eco-Tec assisted Kohler in resolving waste disposal concerns, and succeeded in performing up to their exacting service and systems standards.

Kohler Co., which will celebrate its 125th year in business in 1998, is a world leader in the manufacture and sale of plumbing products for residential and commercial installations. Focusing on high-end customers interested in high-quality products, Kohler's Brass Division supplies roughly 10% of the market with brass plumbing faucets and fittings.

Brass parts are finished by a wide variety of processes. Unfortunately, these metal finishing processes create several waste by-products. As a result, its Brass Division relied on a conventional metal hydroxide precipitation treatment process. It was also forced to ship some of its waste water off-site for treatment and disposal. Kohler's original system also discharged a large volume of water and produced a large number of contaminants in the plating bath. Tank cars used to collect sludges and untreatable waste waters were located outside the existing Brass Waste Treatment building facility. This additional inefficiency presented a spill hazard.

By 1990, Kohler realized it needed a new system to manage these waste waters. After conducting a comprehensive operations audit, it concluded that over 50% of its waste water was being produced through the nickel and chrome plating process. Kohler needed systems that would help it increase its production efficiency while substantially reducing its waste and disposal costs.