Engel Holding GmbH has built its largest-ever injection press - a two-platen Duo machine with 5,500 metric tons of clamping force - for an underground tank made by the German company Otto Graf GmbH.
Schwertberg-based Engel built the press at its large-press factory in St. Valentin, Austria. Graf, based in Teningen, Germany, took delivery of the mammoth machine last fall.
Graf is using the press to mold its new underground rainwater tank, called the Carat.
Engel said the machine has a total shot weight of 308 pounds from its three injection units. Each of the three parallel injection units has a screw diameter of 10.4 inches.
By promoting what it calls ``rainwater harvesting,'' Graf is tapping into the growing environmental awareness of homeowners.
Graf said each person uses an average of 40 gallons of water a day from the tap. But, he said, collected rainwater can supply half of that total for flushing toilets, washing clothes, cleaning and irrigation.
Carat tanks come in two sizes: 1,700 gallons or 700 gallons.
Engel said it spent about three years developing the giant press.
