Becker & Scrivens Concrete Products has strengthened ties to the Hillsdale community in south central Michigan over the past six decades, starting out in block, then migrating to ready mixed and precast septic tank production. Gradual development of a site acquired five years ago demonstrates how members of the founder's family plan to be around the community for the long haul.

The company recently completed an environmental management plan by installing a mixer washout system. With reclaimer and clarifier stages, the Redi-Wash unit is tailored to Becker & Scrivens' 10-acre site and material reuse goals. The equipment separates aggregate, which in turn can be sold as fill in a rural market like Hillsdale (population 10,000). The clarifier provides a source of recycled wash water for subsequent trucks, while converting cement slurry to an easily handled solid for use as inert fill material. Becker & Scrivens is also working with a farm supply company to test the use of hydrated cement solids as agricultural lime.

The Redi-Wash does not require a settling pond, notes manufacturer Jadair Inc. Sloping terrain on Becker & Scrivens' property allowed for construction of a pad for the washout unit alongside a sump. The latter can receive excess washout and some process water, settling any solids. At high level, the sump can transfer settled water to an adjacent stormwater impoundment.

The payback on the washout system, according to Plant Manager Aaron Scrivens, is measurable in 1) time, where drivers might now spend two or three minutes on what was previously a 15-minute process; and, 2) equipment wear, as mixers are no longer driven to the rear of the property for dumping washout and returned material, and the volume of older hardened concrete to be crushed by the front loader dwindles.

The Redi-Wash is the second major pollution-control device Becker & Scrivens has installed. The first one, a slurry mixer outfitted for 12-yd. batches on a Con-E-Co dry plant, controls dust generated at truck charging and operates in lieu of a central collector.
— Jadair Inc., 800/669-3411; www.jadair.com