Ecolab’s Nalco Water tells Arizona committee semiconductor fabs can cut billions of gallons with reuse systems
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Summary
A Nalco Water (Ecolab) representative told an Arizona legislative committee that large semiconductor fabs use 2–3 billion gallons of water per year and outlined reuse and treatment technologies; he cited a case where his team reduced a fab’s water use by 11,000,000 gallons and saved about $675,000 annually.
Brian Jenkins, a 48-year veteran of Nalco Water, part of Ecolab, told an Arizona Legislature committee that large semiconductor fabrication plants use vast amounts of water and that reuse technologies can substantially reduce that footprint.
"A large fab uses between 2 to 3,000,000,000 gallons of water a year," Jenkins said, and described how water is used to rinse wafers and remove manufacturing byproducts. He told the panel that the company focuses on three pillars: maximizing chip production, minimizing the water–energy footprint, and optimizing profitability for manufacturers.
Jenkins cited information from the SEMI database predicting four additional fabs will be built in Arizona over the next several years, second only to Texas in new U.S. fabs. He said Nalco Water’s work targets multiple wastewater streams for reuse, including reclaimed cooling-water streams, chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) slurry treatment, neutralized acid waste, and streams containing hydrogen fluoride byproducts.
"We reduced that particular fab's water consumption by 11,000,000 gallons a year. We reduced their contaminant discharge by 64%, and we save them about $675,000 a year in water use," Jenkins said, offering a client case study to illustrate potential savings from detection, modeling, and engineering interventions.
Committee members responded positively. Mr. Dunn, a committee member, praised the tour of Nalco facilities and urged colleagues to follow up offline on technical questions and potential partnerships to support Arizona manufacturing while stretching limited water supplies.
Jenkins invited members to tour Nalco/Ecolab’s facility in Naperville, Illinois, to see reuse systems and innovations in person. The committee’s chair closed the presentation and adjourned the committee portion of the hearing to allow a joint meeting with House members.
No formal votes or motions were recorded during the presentation portion of the hearing.