Printer Friendly (PDF)
Dirt and Particulate are visible signs of trouble brewing in your open cooling tower system. Unfortunately, the things you cannot see brewing in the tower water may be just as bad or worse than the dirt. Today, we start a short series on basic water treatment in cooling towers.
Water Treatment
Most cooling tower systems are open systems. Towers are exposed to the weather and blowing debris and microbes. Cooling towers also lose a great deal of water and require a fair amount of makeup water. All of this requires attention. That attention normally comes in the form of water treatment.
We are familiar with the addition of chemical to the water. We call this “Internal Water Treatment.” This is the method of adding something to the water and pipe. There is also “External Water Treatment.” This form does not add to the water. This form of treatment changes the conditions to solve some the problems the tower encounters. We will look at these options over the next two weeks.
Reducing the Issues from the Start
R. L. Deppmann represents many manufacturers in the cooling tower product arena. We have used the Monday Morning Minutes to share thoughts and options to help you reduce the amount of water as well as the energy used. These options may not be thought of as water treatment. However, reducing the water lost and the water added will reduce the issues caused in the water.
The “rule of thumb” is cooling towers lose 2.4 GPM per ton. Let’s take a ridiculous example just to make the point of how much water that is. Say you live in a 2000 square foot house with 8-foot ceilings. A 1000-ton cooling tower will use enough water in one hour to completely fill that house with water. That’s a lot of water! Reducing water use is good for the planet and good for the pocketbook. Visit these blogs to see how you can save the planet:
- Cooling Tower Design to Save the Planet: Part 1 of 4 – Drift Eliminators
- Cooling Tower Design to Save the Planet: Cycles of Concentration
- Cooling Tower Design to Save the Planet: Save Energy
- Cooling Tower Design to Save the Planet: Something for Everyone
Next week we will look at a brief outline of “Internal Water Treatment” in the R. L. Deppmann Monday Morning Minutes.
Water Solutions Group offers innovative water quality solutions for cooling tower systems.
Water Solutions Group is a separate division of the R.L. Deppmann Company created to provide end users and engineers with a valuable resource in efforts to improve water quality. Proper water quality management protects the equipment, operations, occupants, and environment. Water quality should be considered at the time of design to ensure safe and efficient operating systems. Our intimate knowledge of water systems positions Water Solutions Group to be the ideal partner when evaluating operational issues that may arise because of poor water quality.
