Industrial Laundry Wastewater Treatment

Ever been to a process plant where personnel wear uniforms?

Ever seen uniform rental trucks driving to and from those plants?

All those uniform rental companies washing all those dirty clothes.

And what happens to all the waste water from all those laundries?

The EPA requires that all industrial laundry wastewater be pre-treated before being discharged to the municipal treatment plant.

The wastewater must have pH adjusted; dirt, oil and grease removed.

A common pre-treatment operation consists of two equalization-pH adjustment tanks followed by DAF, Dissolved Air Flotation, to remove dirt, oil and grease.

The equalization-pH adjustment tanks are in the 5,000 – 10,000 gallon range.

Each is equipped with top entry mixer.

The DAF system uses polymer as a coagulant aid. The polymer is usually mixed ahead of the DAF using a gear drive portable mixer.

Sharpe Mixers has been working with one of the world’s largest uniform rental companies for over 10 years, supplying the mixers for their waste treatment plants. We have shipped mixers to their plants all over North America and the United Kingdom.

So, next time you see a uniform rental company truck driving down the road, follow it back to the laundry and see what they are doing for pre-treatment of their industrial laundry wastewater.

2011 ISPE Delaware Valley Chapter Vendor Night

Sharpe Mixers exhibited at the 2011 ISPE Delaware Valley Chapter Vendor Night that took place on Feb 9, 2011 at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.

The ISPE, International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers, through its local chapters, sponsors these table top exhibits around the country. This gives local members a change to get out and meet with their peers, enjoy a drink and some excellent food, and visit with their suppliers, new and old. They are a great opportunity for us to meet local customers in the biotech and pharmaceutical markets.

Like the Boston Chapter Product Show that takes place at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots football team, the Philadelphia show had outgrown the hotel venue and was moved to Citizens Bank Park.

And like the Boston show, this move proved to be an excellent choice. This was the 21st annual Vendor Night and, according to the ISPE-DVC, the most successful and best attended in the event’s 20 year history. Part of the success is probably due to the venue. People like visiting these sports stadiums. We hope that this is also a sign of an improving business climate.
Sharpe Mixers was supported by our local sales representative, Tom McDonough with Matak LLC. Tom worked with the ISPE DVC so that several of his suppliers were side by side at the exhibit. We called the area “McDonough Place”!

We are encouraged that business in the biotech and pharmaceutical markets will see some growth this coming year, based on conversations we had with customers and suppliers, alike.
If you are involved in the biotech – pharmaceutical industries and you would like Sharpe Mixers to participate in a local chapter Vendor night, please let us know.


Submitted by Fred DeCicco

Special Mixer Stand Design

Sometimes "out of the box" simply doesn't work. Sharpe Mixers has known this for years. In fact, much of our success in the mixing industry has come from our willingness to work with our customers and our ability to design around their needs.

Here is a great case in point. Recently, a customer in the soap industry approached us with their special need: Rather than angle mount their Sharpe portable mixer in traditional fashion, they required a center cantilevered mount for their iBC Tote.

The answer? A floor mounted mixer stand with extended arm over the tote, coupled with our Quick-Connect coupling.

This design allows our customer to position a tote under the permanently mounted mixer with the shaft removed, insert the shaft assembly into the Quick-Connect coupling, mix the product, and then quickly and easily remove the mixer shaft in preparation for the next tote to be brought in.

Sharpe Mixers has been designing and building innovative mixer stands for many years, starting with our basic MS floor stand and working all the way up to our high end ELS (electric lift) and ALS (air lift) stands. Our mixer stands can be found in many industries and applications, including sanitary and pharmaceutical installations. How can we help you?

Our mixer stands come with many accessories, including casters and tank straps. They can be provided in epoxy painted carbon steel or SS316 construction.

Want to learn more? Contact us with your questions! We'll offer a solution to fit your exact needs.

Northwest Food Processors Association and Sharpe Mixers

The Northwest Food Processors Association held their annual meeting and exhibition in Portland Oregon, Jan 16-19, 2011.

This venue is an opportunity for food processors in the Pacific Northwest to attend educational sessions and see and meet with their suppliers.

Sharpe Mixers, in association with our local sales representative, David Bowlin, Engineered Products & Services, participated after a 2-year hiatus.

To say that we were pleasantly surprised by the activity is an understatement. It seems like the economy is on the way up, again.

Many of our existing customers stopped by to visit and talk about their business. They were very positive and excited about the future. We were told that projects that had been back-burnered for the last two years were active again and going forward.

The quality of the sales leads we received, from new and existing clients, was the best I have seen in a long time. The diversity of the attendees was also very interesting. There were many new entrepreneurs, new companies with new food products.

Our All Stainless Steel Portable Mixers attracted a lot of attention. Some folks didn’t know that this type of product existed: paint-free, USDA approved (3-A Certification pending), and easily cleaned.

David had only one concern after the show. How can he respond to all the “hot” leads in a timely fashion.


Submitted by Fred DeCicco

In-line Mixing for Water Treatment

Sharpe Mixershas been providing in-line mixers for a leading process equipment manufacturer for many years. It's a business relationship that has grown and prospered as a culmination of the technical knowledge and experience our partnership offers.

The mixing process is referred to as flash mixing. Due to the minute amounts of solutions added to the relatively large amount of raw water treated, flash mixing coagulants and other chemicals is necessary. Instant diffusion of the coagulant solution is required, or many particles will be missed, resulting in an overall higher turbidity or excessive use of coagulant. This is because rapid chemical reaction starts the instant alum or other coagulant is blended with raw water.

In this application, Sharpe mixers are mounted to a pipeline where they provide continuous, instantaneous blending of coagulant water prior to flocculation. This is done by (2) impellers mounted to the mixer shaft, pumping towards each other at high speed. Of course, other technology comes into play here as well!

How can our flash mixer arrangement help you? Contact us today to find out!

New Web Site for Sharpe Mixers!

Sharpe Mixers starts the 2011 year off with a brand new web site! We've received many compliments over the navigation and overall layout of our previous web design. But designs are meant to be improved upon!

Continuing with the easy navigation concept, our new design gets rid of javascript for better search engine optimization (SEO), and incorporates many, many other SEO features. What does this mean for you? Better search ability and easier to find topics.

Some of the new features includes a multimedia page, streaming videos of various new products, awards and even installations.

There is by no means a finished product. There will be more additions soon - stay tuned!

Revisiting History and Our Founders

What better way to begin the new year than to revisit an important part of our past here at Sharpe Mixers?

This image was forwarded to us by our good friends at the Mellema Co., our sales representatives in Minnesota. It is from a Pulp and Paper Sales Conference that took place in June of 1965, and includes our founders Charlie Burhans and Phillip Sharpe.

Charlie Burhans and Phillip Sharpe founded The Burhans-Sharpe Company in 1953 as a sales organization with equipment and engineering services for the chemical process and pulp and paper mills in the states of Washington and Oregon.

In 1970, The Burhans-Sharpe Company became mixer manufacturers and rest is history. Now known as Sharpe Mixers, we continue to be innovators and leaders in the mixing industry. How can we help you? Visit our web site today at http://www.sharpemixers.com/ to learn more!