Q: How would you describe your company’s primary business?
A: We, at Filter-1, are in the business of manufacturing equipment for indoor air pollution solutions. Our products are made for cleaning the indoor air from pollutants caused by welding, grinding, or polishing during the manufacturing process.

Q: In brief, what is the history of your company?
A: Clean Air Consultants was started in 1987 by Cliff Watson, a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas. We started as manufacturers’ representatives carrying such lines as PTS Dust Collectors, Trion Air Cleaners, and Plymovent vehicle exhaust. After several years of selling other people’s products we morphed into the manufacturing business with the Filter-1 product line of wet and dry collectors.

Q: How has Filter-1, as a company, changed through the years?
A: During our formative years as a manufacturer we built our business on innovative ideas focused around the dust collector booth and bench markets.

We revolutionized these markets by introducing the regain air principle that introduced bringing clean air back across the work zone, and increasing capture velocities by 300 percent. We have since expanded our product line to include a full line of both wet and dry collectors. We are a leader in the wet dust collection field manufacturing the Hydrotron HWF ducted collector, the DHYD wet downdraft bench, and the HPB wet dust booth.

Q: As a company that has been around for almost 20 years, how has air filtration systems changed during that time?
A: The market has become increasingly shifted towards an emphasis on safely collecting explosive dust.

Q: What questions do your customers frequently ask?
A: One question our customers frequently ask is what type of collectors are used to collect aluminum, titanium, and magnesium dust. Also, many inquire on what features are needed to make to make my system compliant with NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) regulations.

Q: What successes has Filter-1 had since last year?
A: 2016 was a banner year for the Filter-1 product line, we acquired three new distributors to bring our products to market, and continue to have great success with our established distributors. We are constantly increasing market share in the Midwest with Hastings Air energy, and the Southeast with Air Purification.

In 2016 our engineers designed a new HMI control system that will revolutionize controls on wet dust collectors. The new control system is called CASI, and is a self-monitoring, self-adjusting system that makes it easy to set and control your wet dust collector.

Q: What do you want to see in the future for the industry?
A: As with most Americans we hope to see the creation of more manufacturing jobs that will stay in America. I believe our country is ready for a large increase in manufactured goods sold both here and abroad, and anytime manufacturing is up, the business of purifying the air is thriving.

Mike Sweezy, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Filter-1