Water use in the printed circuit board manufacturing process and approaches for reducing consumption

Purpose To review water use in the PCB industry and to introduce approaches for minimising its consumption in order to reduce costs, enhance efficiency and to enable PCB producers to operate in a more sustainable manner. Design/methodology/approach This paper has been written to provide a review of water consumption in the PCB industry. Opportunities and techniques for reducing water use have been described and the benefits of using less water discussed. Findings It was found that the purchase costs of water varied significantly between UK PCB manufacturers and that there was a strong business case for improving the efficiency of water use during PCB manufacturing, especially as water consumption can be as high as 1.5 m 3 per m 2 of board processed. The significant cost of water in the manufacturing process was also highlighted and it was also found that the cost of incoming water and outgoing water effluent had increased significantly in recent years. Originality/value The value of the paper lies in its ability to provide information on how to reduce water consumption in the PCB manufacturing process through the use of a range of measures. Reducing water consumption helps to minimise costs and to enhance efficiency in a very competitive industry.