SALT USAGE REDUCTION SARA KELDAHL

CINTAS CORPORATION

5.5.2016

CINTAS CORPORATION

• In the Madison area since 1990 (Corporate is in Ohio – established 1929)

• Industrial Laundry

• Garments

• Floor mats

• Kitchen towels/aprons

• Shop towels

WHERE OUR JOURNEY BEGAN

Bain Kibler of Kibler Water Softeners spoke at a Maintenance

Summit attended by our Maintenance Supervisor, Bill Mentele

• He spoke about the systems he has, in addition to maximizing the systems

• When Bill returned to the facility he realized we had not been maximizing our system’s efficiency so he contacted Bain directly and

worked with him to get better results

HOW OUR SYSTEM WAS RUNNING

• Our Water System is a Kibler ASDC-4284-3/1.5.5/SS

• It has a 1.2 million grain capacity

• We had it set to 999,000 grains

• The Water coming into our facility • Our average water consumption is about 57,650

gallons per day

• Has a hardness level variance that can change daily

• We had the Water Softener set to one specific point (for example set for 24 grains)

RESULTS OF OUR CURRENT CONFIGURATION

• Regeneration too soon

• We were not efficiently using the system to capacity

• The calculation for regeneration was not accurate because the grains in the water changed daily

• Either ended up with hard water

• Or short cycle the system and using more salt than needed (sending it out to waste water)

NEW PROCESS TO MAXIMIZE SYSTEM

• Adjusted to actually hit the total system capacity (999,000 to 1,200,000 grains)

• Physically measured the resin beds in the water softener to ensure the calculation for capacity was accurate (softening

capability = 20,000 grains/cubic feet of resin)

• Check incoming water for hardness levels daily

• Adjust the controls accordingly

• When the hardness level is 24 grains we can only soften 41,625 gallons per regeneration

NEXT STEPS TO TAKE…

• Ensure our regeneration process is efficient and maximized

• Either on the Incoming Side

• Calculate the amount of salt needed to saturate the resin and put a flow meter on the incoming brine side

• Or the Outgoing side

• Put a conductivity meter on the drain to ensure we don’t over brine the resin beds & ensure we are not sending too much salt down the drain

• Continue to have our resin tested ever 2 years (Kibler does this for us)

• To ensure it has not broken down

BIO INFORMATION

Sara Keldahl – Cintas partner 9 years:

-- Plant Manager

-- Service Manager

-- Management Trainee

Keldahls@Cintas.com

608.222.0612

Bill Mentele – Cintas partner 7 years:

-- Maintenance Supervisor

-- Production Supervisor

-- Maintenance Tech

-- New Account Installer

Mentelew@Cintas.com

608.222.0612

mailto:keldahls@Cintas.commailto:Mentelew@Cintas.com