Industrial Water Treatment - Boilers, Cooling and Closed Circuits

Industrial water treatment is an important mechanism that helps to optimise the efficiency of industrial processes including plant and equipment that use or involve water in some way. This can include the treatment of boilers and steam generating plant, cooling water systems and cooling towers, and closed circuit and closed loop heating and cooling systems.

Good industrial water treatment practices help to improve the reliability of plant and equipment, reduce operating costs and other serious risks to on-going operations, productivity, and health and safety.

What is Industrial Water Treatment?

Industrial water treatment can be more easily split into four primary areas involving engineered water systems which are:

Boiler systems

Boiler water treatment including steam raising systems, industrial boilers and steam generating plant… boilers →

Cooling systems

Cooling water treatment including cooling water systems, open re-circulating and evaporative cooling systems… cooling systems→

Closed-circuit systems

Closed-circuit heating and cooling systems… closed-circuits →

Wastewater and effluent treatment

Industrial wastewater treatment… waste water →

These four areas help to explain how the water is treated and which particular process is involved.

For example you can treat water that is used to cool a particular process, or to treat the water inside a steam boiler system.

Additionally, the term may also refer to industrial wastewater treatment.

The Benefits of Effective Water Treatment

Essentially good industrial water treatment practices will help to ensure that the water involved in each of the processes, and the systems themselves are always maintained in good condition and will not cause unnecessary problems, fail prematurely or fall foul of the law.

Treating Corrosion, Scaling & Fouling

If the water used in a system is not treated correctly it may allow excess corrosion, scaling and fouling, all of which will impact negatively on the water system, plant and equipment.

Furthermore, untreated water systems may allow harmful pathogens such as legionella bacteria to develop and multiply.

This can mean workers or the general public are exposed to the bacteria and may fall ill as a result.

However, it is also essential to treat the engineered systems in which the water is being used, whether they are boilers, cooling towers, closed-circuit heating or cooling systems etc.

In industrial settings there is a clear need to do this, because a lack of adequate water treatment in any part of the process can lead to a whole range of issues including accelerated corrosion, scaling, fouling, microbial contamination and other unwanted problems.

Scaling

Scaling (limescale) can occur when deposits of calcium carbonate in the water form to scale-up the internal surfaces of pipes, boilers, heat transfer surfaces or other elements in the industrial water system.

By treating the water appropriately such unwanted scale deposits can be prevented from causing damage, reduced flow rates or poor heat transfer.

Corrosion

Similarly, the internal surfaces of water systems can be subject to accelerated corrosion if no appropriate water treatment processes are in place to control or prevent such corrosion.

Rust and other deposits can end up in the water system causing reduced flow rates and blockages.

Furthermore as a system corrodes it becomes more liable to leaks, serious damage, reduced life expectancy, increased down-time and potentially catastrophic failure.

Biofouling

Biofouling or biological fouling describes the build-up of microorganisms including biofilm within a water system, on the internal surfaces of pipes or other elements.

This can lead to a deterioration in water quality but can also lead to a number of other serious issues including increased costs, reduced efficiencies and potentially dangerous health and safety issues, particularly with regard to legionella bacteria and Legionnaires’ disease.

By treating water systems appropriately with suitable biocides, bio-dispersants and temperature such unwanted biofouling can be controlled and managed effectively.

World Class Industrial Water Treatment Solutions

Water Treatment Services is a leading independent UK water treatment company offering a full range of industrial water treatment and engineering support solutions including:

Management of boilers and steam generating systems.
Cooling water treatment including cooling towers.
Management of closed circuit water systems.
Industrial wastewater and effluent treatment.

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 teams of trained engineers, service specialists and technical experts we can offer industrial water management solutions across the whole of the UK.

Contact us today to learn how our expert industrial water treatment and engineering support solutions can help you… contact us →