• Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Call Me Back
  • About
  • Knowledge
📞 Call us on 0330 223 31 31
Water Treatment Services
  • Home
  • Water
    • Applications
      • Boiler Water Treatment
      • Cooling Water Treatment
      • Closed Loop Water Treatment
      • Legionella Control
    • Services
      • Cooling Tower Cleaning
      • Cooling Tower Maintenance
      • Chlorine Dioxide Water Treatment
      • Commercial Water Softeners
      • Expert Witness Services
      • Pre-Commission Cleaning
      • Tank Reline & Repair
      • TMV Servicing
      • Water Chlorination & Disinfection
      • Water Leak Detection
      • Water Testing
        • Drinking Water Testing
        • Metals Testing
        • Pool Water Testing
        • BSRIA Closed System Testing
        • SDI Testing & Analysis
        • Trade Effluent Testing
    • Training
      • Water Treatment Training
      • Basic Chemistry of Water
      • Industrial Treatment
      • Pre-Treatment
      • Boiler Treatment
      • Cooling Systems
      • Closed Systems
      • Wastewater Training
      • Advanced Treatments
      • Training Dates 2021
  • Wastewater
    • Metals Testing
    • Trade Effluent Testing
    • Wastewater Training
    • Expert Witness Services
  • Air
    • Ductwork Cleaning
    • Indoor Air Quality
    • Local Exhaust Ventilation Testing
    • Mould Testing
    • Expert Witness Services
  • Energy
  • Legionella
    • Legionella Risk Assessment
    • Legionella Training Courses
      • Legionella Awareness Training
      • Responsible Person Training
      • Water Hygiene Awareness
      • Pseudomonas Training
      • Training Dates 2021
    • Legionella Testing
    • Expert Witness Services
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: Home1 / Knowledge2 / Energy3 / Water Treatment for Closed Heating & Cooling Systems – BSRIA...
Water Treatment for closed heating and cooling systems BG 50/2013

Water Treatment for Closed Heating & Cooling Systems – BSRIA BG 50/2013

BSRIA Guide BG 50/2013 – Water Treatment for Closed Heating and Cooling Systems was published in October 2013 and was written to replace (in part) AG 2/93 Water Treatment for Building Services Systems in relation to closed water system applications.

BSRIA BG 50/2013

BSRIA BG 50/2013 gives detailed guidance to design engineers, installing contractors and facilities managers with responsibility for the management of low temperature hot water and cooling systems, and how to select the most appropriate water treatment programmes for their closed circuit water systems to ensure they operate effectively.

The guidance given in BSRIA BG50/2013 is consistent with:

  • BG 29/2012 – Pre-Commission Cleaning of Pipework Systems.
  • BS 8552:2012 – Sampling and monitoring of water from building services closed systems.
  • European Biocidal Products Regulation (528/2012, commonly known as BPR).

Water Treatment for Closed Heating & Cooling Systems

Effective water treatment practices for modern building services installations, including closed circuit heating and cooling systems is becoming more important than ever, helping to control microbiological fouling (biofouling), corrosion and scale.

Unwanted biofouling, system corrosion and the accumulation of scale in such closed systems can result in poor thermal transfer efficiencies, increased energy usage and the accelerated deterioration of plant and system components. Such problems can be detrimental to system performance and often be expensive to remedy.

BG 50 /2013 was written to highlight to engineers, contractors and facilities managers the importance of effective water treatment programmes in the management of closed circuit heating and cooling systems, why they are required and the serious consequences an ineffective treatment programme can cause.

Water Treatment Programme Design

A well designed water treatment programme for a closed heating or cooling system should focus on maintaining system efficiency, overall cleanliness and extend the life of the closed system. BG 50/2013 explains how to achieve this through:

  • Good closed heating and cooling system design.
  • Correct system installation, testing and pre-commission cleaning prior to start-up.
  • Design and implementation of a suitable water treatment programme
  • Managing the performance of the water treatment programme to ensure it is effective at all times.

Managing Closed Heating & Cooling Systems

BG 50/2013 provides clarification on a number of issues that have previously caused confusion for facilities managers and water treatment companies responsible for the management of closed heating and cooling water systems, these include:

  • The minimum re-circulation time for heating and cooling circuits is one hour daily.
  • Any chemical dosing pots used should remain open with continuous flow to minimise potential dead-legs and biofouling issues.
  • Designers should consider permanent monitoring equipment, including corrosion coupons, on-line sensors etc. to manage system conditions more effectively.
  • Sampling points should be introduced at key locations throughout the system to ensure monitoring is possible.
  • BG 50/2013 identifies when remedial flushing may be necessary.
  • For remedial flushing of an existing system the guide states that it may not be possible to achieve the recommendations outlined in BG 29/2012.
  • Contact time for any chemical cleaners used in the closed circuit system should allow sufficient time to be effective. This is unlikely to be achieved in a limited time frame, e.g. up to 4 hours.
  • Full and accurate record keeping of all activity is essential.
  • The use of chemical biocides should be considered during seasonal shut downs (summer months) to control bacteria. The system should also be recirculated for at least one hour each day.
  • The introduction of side stream filters should be carefully considered to allow for the removal of accumulated suspended solids, this is an alternative to remedial flushing.
  • Guidance is given on the interpretation of samples taken from the system, in accordance (BS8552:2012).

Good Design, Pre-Commission Cleaning & Effective Water Treatment

What is clear from BG 50/2013 is that good closed system design, together with correct installation, testing and pre-commission cleaning prior to hand-over are all essential.

Additionally, facilities managers and maintenance staff should take a holistic approach to the water treatment and on-going maintenance management of low temperature closed circuit hot water and cooling systems.

Maintenance activities should take account of all analysis results, additional evidence and data trends to guide the successful water treatment of such closed systems.

Finally, always remember that it is typically more cost effective to take a proactive approach to the maintenance of a closed circuit system than to deal with extensive biofouling, corrosion or scaling issues.

World Class Water Treatment Solutions

Water Treatment Services are a leading independent UK water treatment, air, energy and environmental services company offering expert water management solutions including professional, water treatment, energy efficiency and support services.

With offices in London serving the South and South East England, Manchester (North West), Birmingham (Midlands), Bristol (South East England and Wales), Leeds (North and North East) and Glasgow (Scotland), supported by regional teams of specially trained engineers, site service specialists and technical experts we can offer water management solutions across the whole of the UK.

Contact us today to learn how our water management and engineering solutions can help you… contact us →

Contact Us Today

Further Reading…

More information about BSRIA Guide BG 50/2013 – Water Treatment for Closed Heating and Cooling Systems… here →

Tags: BSRIA BG 50/2013, Closed Cooling Systems, Closed Heating Systems, water, water treatment
You might also like
Legionella bacteria What is Legionella Bacteria?
Borehole water wells Borehole Water, Wells & Private Water Supplies
All About Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC)
Boiler feedwater treatment All About Treating Boiler Feedwater
Trade effluent and liquid waste management Trade Effluent & Liquid Waste Management
What is water borehole drilling? What is Water Borehole Drilling?
Ion Exchange Water Softeners Ion Exchange Water Softeners
Hydrotherapy pool water safety Managing Hydrotherapy Pool Water Safety

Search…

What’s New

  • PWTAG Code of Practice for Pool Water Treatment

    PWTAG Code of Practice for Pool Water Treatment

    In this pool guide the water management experts at …
  • In-Field Wastewater Testing for Plant Operators

    In-Field Wastewater Testing for Plant Operators

    In this article the industrial wastewater specialists at WTS …
  • Guide to Testing Swimming Pools and Hot Tubs

    Guide to Testing Swimming Pools and Hot Tubs

    In this pool guide the water management experts at …
  • How Boiler Water Treatment Affects Performance

    How Boiler Water Treatment Affects Performance

    In this article the industrial steam boiler specialists at …
  • Improving HVAC Energy Efficiency

    Improving HVAC Energy Efficiency

    This article examines how businesses can optimise energy consumption, …
  • What is Waste Acceptance Criteria or WAC Testing?

    What is Waste Acceptance Criteria or WAC Testing?

    In this article the industrial waste specialists at WTS …

REVIEWS

4.8
Rated 4.8 out of 5
Water Treatment Services is rated 4.8 out of 5 stars (based on 97 reviews)
Read our reviews

Free Newsletter

Receive exciting features, news, latest research and special offers! Just add your email address and we'll do the rest.

Contact us

Water Treatment Services

[email protected]

Tel: 0330 223 31 31

© Copyright 2022 - EDG Ltd. Operating as Water Treatment Services
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Home
  • About
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • Environment
  • Reviews
  • Sitemap
All About Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC)All About Industrial Cooling Towers
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OK

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy
Accept settingsHide notification only