Godfrey Hirst Carpets -
savewater! awards® 2006/07 Commendation
March 2007

Godfrey Hirst Carpets has received a Commendation in the ‘Manufacturing’ category at the 2006/07 savewater! awards® held on Friday 23 March 2007 at Melbourne’s Plaza Ballroom.

The savewater! awards® recognise and reward outstanding achievement in water conservation across Australian businesses, community groups, individual and government department and agencies.  This was the fifth year of the awards with 11 categories and hundreds of participating organisations.  Other finalist, Quenos (Australia) Pty Ltd, was named winner of the 2006/07 ‘Manufacturing’ category.

Godfrey Hirst Carpets received a Commendation for saving more than 259 kilolitres of water per day by recycling 60 megalitres in its woollen yarn manufacturing plant, Barwon Spinners, and 35 megalitres per day in the Godfrey Hirst manufacturing plant during the 2005/2006 financial year.  The total 95ML water saved represents 38 Olympic sized swimming pools.*  These savings are on top of the 85ML conserved annually through the plant’s vacuum pump recycling system, which earned Godfrey Hirst the Award for Excellence and winner of the Manufacturing category at the 2005 savewater! awards®.

The first stage of the Godfrey Hirst 2005-2006 water management plan was to undertake a comprehensive water audit of the loose stock (scoured, raw material) dye house process at the Barwon Spinners plant.  “The results provided a breakdown of water consumption in the batch dyeing process and the numerous water streams were evaluated and assessed to identify potential areas for water reuse,” said Mr. Brian Cassidy, Engineering Manager at Godfrey Hirst Carpets.  “Plant infrastructure was mapped and analysed to identify recyclable streams and water used in the wool compacting and vat cooling dye house processes was targeted for reuse.”

Subsequently, Godfrey Hirst Carpets developed a water recycling system at the Barwon Spinners Dye House. Water from the wool compacting and vat cooling is now separated from the effluent streams, filtered, treated and stored in tanks for subsequent reuse.  The stored water is now reused in the dyeing vessel to create dye liquor.

Godfrey Hirst Carpets was also recognised for implementing a number of water conservation strategies and other sustainable initiatives at the Geelong carpet manufacturing plant.  Technical modifications and investment in a state of the art Wet Goods Dryer resulted in the removal of an extra washing and vacuuming stage.  Godfrey Hirst Carpets also reduced water consumption through investment in the production of solution dyed nylon products that require no dyeing or drying and modifications to the fluoro chemical application process.

*Calculations based on FINA-standard Olympic-sized swimming pool at 2.5ML.

Contact:
Brian Cassidy
Engineering Manager
Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd
Tel: 03 5225 0274

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