Jamestown Engine Plant commits to reducing water waste through reverse osmosis

The Cummins Inc. Jamestown Engine Plant (JEP) is not only setting the standard for manufacturing top of the line engines. It’s also setting the standard for plants across the country as it makes progress on Cummins’ goal of having a net positive impact on local communities.

Part of Cummins’ Planet 2050 environmental sustainability strategy and 2030 goals aim to reduce absolute water consumption in facilities and operations by 30%. Plants like Cummins Mid-Range Engine Plant (CEP) in Columbus, Indiana have removed their 6.7 turbo diesel engine coating process to help reduce their water consumption. For JEP sustainability leaders, however, they hope to achieve this goal by eliminate 100% of potable water for irrigation, reusing 100% of fire test water and reuse 100% of treated wastewater. Recycling and reusing wastewater through the science of reverse osmosis (RO) will be one of the largest initiatives in plant history.

What is reverse osmosis?

Reverse osmosis is a technology that separates pure water from the outgoing waste streams by removing contaminants. This process is a major water-saver at JEP. 

In 2022, the plant used 16M gallons of fresh water, a 59% reduction in total water usages since 2016. Of that 16M, approximately 8M gallons leaves as wastewater to the local sewer system for treatment. The RO system provides the potential to recycle or reuse 80% of that outgoing water, which goes a long way towards meeting Cummins’ 2030 water reduction goals.

“If we want 30% - 50% water reduction at the plant, the reverse osmosis is what gets us there,” says JEP Machine Director Dave Burlee.
This is no easy feat, as a significant amount of effort is required to maintain an RO system at its peak efficiency. Water is extracted and reused in the deionizer (DI) water process which removes the metals, calcium and magnesium that are normally in city water.

“City water has a lot of minerals that we need to take out. The beauty of the RO system is that it removes 98% of it,” Burlee says. “We don’t want minerals in our water because when it evaporates, it leaves behind all that as scale – and we don’t want that in our cooling systems.”

How was wastewater regenerated before reverse osmosis?

Before the introduction of RO, wastewater needed to be regenerated — a process that creates giant vats of hazardous acid and caustic waste that requires treatment — every three or four days. Now, the water is fed into the DI where it can run for weeks before it needs to be regenerated, reducing the consumption of the acids and caustics associated with regeneration.

Today, 80% of deionized water used in the factory process is from the RO system.
“Our plant is a case study to show that it is viable to implement green energy solutions or energy conservation measures in a workplace such as ours with heavy machine manufacturing,” says Burlee.

Beyond just being viable, Burlee points out that the more significant impact comes with long-term viability. With machinery purchases, the return on investment (ROI) is usually one to two years. The ROI for green energy solutions, however, is usually closer to eight to 10 years. 

“You’re in it for the long haul. You’ve got to play the long game,” Burlee says. “The technology fits our manufacturing profile. So as long as up-front financials can be overcome, a business can see the long-term benefits of these things.”

The goal is a net positive impact in every community Cummins operates so that the sum of the environmental good is larger than the local environmental footprint. As the JEP plant continues to innovate, grow and invest, Burlee notes that, “Net Zero – it’s not just what our product does or how we assemble it, it’s how much it burns in its life cycle. How much energy did it take to mine all the raw materials to get there? It’s a whole circular life cycle mindset.”