Properly measuring ORP (Oxidation-Reduction Potential) and understanding its limitations when used to monitor and control oxidizing biocide feed is important to minimize the potential for increased corrosion rates, excessive chemical feeds, and biofouling.

The HVAC system is the largest user of energy and water in typical commercial buildings. In the past, energy costs overshadowed water costs. Recent droughts and the need to expand municipal water supplies to support growth have led to increased water costs nationwide. Combined with the focus on water conservation in green buildings, the payback associated with reducing building water usage is greater than ever. Most commercial buildings use water cooled chillers to provide air conditioning because they are much more energy efficient than air-cooled chillers. Achieving these efficiencies, however, requires large quantities of water to operate a cooling tower. Most buildings also use re-circulating hot and chilled water loops to distribute heating and cooling throughout the building. Although not designed to routinely use water, these systems can use large amounts of water if undetected leaks occur. As the major consumer of water, the building HVAC system is an obvious target for water conservation efforts and often provides significant saving.

In terms of raw energy efficiency and the ability to provide precise cooling under fluctuating load conditions, recirculating evaporative cooling water systems with chillers or heat pumps are the most efficient way to remove heat from a process or building air. However, adiabatic cooling systems can be a good fit with an overall lower cost for heat removal in some climates and applications.

Water treatment makes good economic sense. An effective water treatment program helps maximize the life, efficiency, reliability, and safety of boiler and cooling systems and minimizes total operating costs. Water treatment only represents a small percentage of the costs associated with operating a boiler or cooling system. However, this small percentage dramatically influences the total operating costs (fuel, water, maintenance, and labor).

Evaporative condensers are commonly used for heat rejection in low temperature ammonia refrigeration applications in cold storage and food processing plants. Although often confused with standard cooling towers, there are some key differences between evaporative condensers and the cooling tower systems used in HVAC applications. Understanding these differences and the challenges they present is important for water treatment program success.

Transferring heat into a process or rejecting excess heat from your facility is critical to keeping your facility up and running. Failure to transfer heat effectively to and from your equipment and processes may lead to increased operating costs, downtime, unscheduled maintenance, and reduced equipment life. Heat always flows from higher temperature to lower temperature in one of three ways: conduction, convection, and radiation.

Uncontrolled microbiological growth in cooling and process water systems is a multi-billion dollar problem for businesses each year. The primary cause of this expensive problem is biofilm. Biofilms form when bacteria and other microorganisms found in the bulk water attach to exposed surfaces and begin to produce a mass of biopolymers known as extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). The EPS provides a sticky, protective barrier that allows complex communities of bacteria to thrive and exponentially grow. Bulky, biofouling deposits can quickly form as the EPS traps dirt, corrosion byproducts, and other debris suspended in the water, leading to blockages.

Covid-19 has rapidly altered the daily life of Americans in a way that few other events have and industrial water treatment professionals are no exception. Field service representatives have had to deal with new access restrictions at customer sites, corporate engineering staff are working from home and learning how to remotely diagnose problems and support field staff, supply chains have been strained, and shipping has dealt with massive increases in volume. All of these challenges have caused companies to take a step back and look introspectively at their business model and see what changes they can make to become more nimble and efficient. What does this mean for the future of industrial water treatment?

Dairy processing plants have a unique opportunity for water reuse: Condensate of Whey or “COW” water, is the water generated when milk products are evaporated or concentrated. Because milk is almost 90% water, a lot of cow water may be available for reuse. For example, a dairy plant producing 50,000 pounds of cheese a day requires about 500,000 pounds of raw milk and generates over 50,000 gallons of COW water for each day of production. That’s almost 20 million gallons of COW water annually. The economic and environmental benefits of reusing this water is significant both in terms of reducing fresh water requirements as well as the load on the wastewater treatment plant.

Hard water has been causing issues for humanity for ages, whether it is making it difficult to wash our clothes and cars, or depositing on our hot water heaters and kettles. Hardness scale is typically the combination of calcium and magnesium compounds that have precipitated out of water (e.g., calcium carbonate, magnesium silicate). This tough deposit forms in HVAC cooling systems and process water systems and can wreak havoc by decreasing system life and increasing energy usage, maintenance, and operational costs.