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Reclaim, the practice of reusing water beyond its first time use, is in its infancy in the rapidly growing, water-intensive semiconductor industry, and possesses the potential for widespread implementation. Supported by environmental, technology, regulatory, and economics issues, water reclaim is important in semiconductor fabrication facilities. For this article, a water reclaim system is developed for a medium-sized production fab. Process flow amounts are estimated and then used as a basis to determine a breakeven analysis, a method used to determine the viability of reclaim systems with respect to capital expense and ongoing cost. Water reclaim is possible and possesses potential in new and existing factory design. It can also be accomplished within the limits of available technologies and can be cost effective when considerations are given to the operational savings inherent in consumption and discharge reduction.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RECLAIM
Water consumption for microelectronics plants can dictate the regional location of a facility as easily as available workforce and access to a transportation network. A large semiconductor manufacturer such as Intel Corporation can use more than 13 million gallons of water per day worldwide, roughly equivalent to the watering needs of 20 southwestern golf courses [12]. In the first quarter of 1998, Intel Corporation's Ocotillo plant in Chandler, AZ, discharged an average of 1. 1 million gallons of wastewater for treatment per day [5]. Experts in the industry are predicting that the transition from 200 to 300 mm wafers will increase the water consumption of a microelectronics facility seven-fold [3]. Such an increase will most certainly challenge the availability and affordability of water to new microelectronics facilities seeking startup in an area.
Environmental Responsibility
History has proven the effects of industry on the environment. Love Canal and Three Mile Island are textbook cases of environmental disasters caused by industry in the US [6]. Government regulations, such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or the superfund law, result in massive cleanup efforts following decades of environmental pollution [6]. Billions of dollars are being expended to correct environmental wrongs, and environmental liability lawsuits congest the courts [4]. Industry must now adhere to strict guidelines for the discharge of pollutants into the waters that we drink and that provide recreation. No longer...