Reducing the amount of water an individual uses in their home is simple enough, as is the pneumatic recovery system that allows sandblast equipment users to recycle the abrasives within water used to clean industrial products and materials. Personally, I turn the water off while I’m brushing my teeth and washing my hands, fill the sink when I’m washing dishes rather then letting the water run the whole time, and take showers as quickly and efficiently as possible. These simple steps help me reduce my carbon footprint by being a responsible water consumer. To actually recycle the massive amounts of water used for abrasive blasting systems, a bit more then reducing the amount of water used is necessary.

A pneumatic recovery system doesn’t actually recycle the water used for abrasive wet sandblasting, but cycles it through its system and removes the abrasive material to be used again. Another system is often set in place to collect the water after a media blasting session to be recycled in the next round. Sandblast equipment manufacturers as well as those who purchase and use sandblast equipment, take recycling very seriously. This is not only because it is environmentally friendly, but cost effective as well. It makes sense for the earth as well as their pockets.

The types of blasting media that can be collected by a pneumatic recovery system include a wide variety of textures. Steel shot, ceramic shot, glass beads, walnut shells and white aluminum oxide are just a few of the many medias mixed with water that are shot at high pressures at objects that need to be cleaned of debris or given a smooth finish. Some media cannot be collected and recycled by the pneumatic recovery system because they are too fine for collection after the process is over. An example of very soft, non-recyclable media is baking soda, which is very popular for cleaning paint and carbon from a surface.