Industrial battery manufacturer EnerSys has won an environmental award for its approach to treating industrial wastewater.

The Kentucky-Tennessee Water Environment Association presented the Industrial Pretreatment Award to the company's plant in Kentucky.

Dennis Brumbaugh, EnerSys Richmond plant manager, says when wastewater discharge limits were cut in 2006, the company needed to find an approach that would meet the new requirements.

EnerSys installed a membrane filtration system for cleaning industrial process wastewater. The company processes between 30,000 to 50,000 gallons (113,000 to 120,000 litres) of water per day through the filtration system.

James Pikul, EnerSys Richmond Plant environmental, health and safety manager, says the new treatment method is a closed-loop system. "This means that the waste by-products are reintroduced back into the manufacturing process," he explains. "We now recycle 80% of our waste sulfuric acid. We also recycled 210,000 pounds (95,00 Kg) of lead in 2008 that was extracted from our wastewater."

EnerSys Richmond plant also won the Richmond Chamber of Commerce's Industry of the Year award in recognition of its commitment to lessening its environmental impact.