Often, the thought of the costs associated with replacing an old product with a newer model can be daunting. My parents recently bought a new dishwasher after years of complaining about the old one that they’d had for 15 years. It was loud and slow and starting to smell and would increasingly leave the dishes inside unclean. Having to run the machine more than once, sometimes left the sink overflowing with an abundance of dirty dishes. This was my first personal encounter with inefficient water treatment processes.
Aside from having to run the dishwasher more than once a load, bad habits when hand washing usually meant the faucet ran continuously. Needless to say, this inefficiency ran up their water bill. However, they did eventually buy a newer, better machine. Now, this machine only takes one wash cycle to clean.
The same inefficiences can happen to a water treatment or wastewater treatment system in a municipality, plant or factory. Admittedly, inefficient water treatment processes on an industrial or municipal scale are more complex than a simple dishwasher. However, the concept of losing money due to inefficient water treatment processes are the same. Therefore, what are the root causes of an inefficient treatment process, and what can it cost you?
Well, like my parent’s dishwasher, it could just be old. Sadly, one of the tenants of engineering is recognizing that, over long periods of time, continual use of a machine will cause wear and fatigue. If all of the parts don’t work, your treatment system is working inefficiently. You can replace some of the small parts from time to time but eventually, there will come a time where the entire system will need to be replaced. If it is not replaced, you’ll just lose money from the costs of replacing components, troubleshooting, decreasing yields, and decreasing product quality.
My parents also weren’t the most religious about maintenance and cleaning their machine. Armed with a little mechanical and electrical know-how and a Youtube video or two, my dad was handy enough to perform any maintenance. However, he did tend to procrastinate.
With more complex equipment and systems, an industrial or municipal water treatment or wastewater treatment plant would require more maintenance and cleaning to make sure everything runs smoothly. If not, even a relatively new system could start having issues. As a result, the company would have to resort to replacing parts or dealing with a poor quality product.
Poor design never seemed to be an issue with my parent’s dishwasher, but it can definitely present an issue with a water treatment system. With systems like these, a poor design could mean cheap mechanical equipment is used or the wrong types of mechanical equipment are selected resulting in broken parts, wrong chemical dosing, electrical shortages, or more. If the overall design of the process is done wrong, the water may not be treated to the level required. A company could still end up paying regulatory fines or reusing poorly treated water in their processes. This can cause even more complex issues.
Sometimes, there may not be an issue with the current water or wastewater treatment system. The system is working just the same as it did when it was installed. However, new and innovative technology is introduced ever year and sometimes, it accomplishes a better job. Potentially, it can process larger volumes or remove even more contaminants using fewer chemicals or utilize less power than older system technologies. While you may not be losing money right now, you could be saving even more with an upgraded system.
Perhaps your company or municipality can’t afford to completely replace all of your treatment processes. Well, a complete overhaul isn’t always necessary. Individual processes can be replaced one at a time with modular systems. These modular systems can be retrofitted into a pre-existing system to meet new regulatory standards and achieve new efficiencies.
Genesis Water Technologies, Inc. designs, builds and integrates specialized modular water & wastewater treatment system solutions including specialized electrocoagulation, advanced oxidation, filtration, reverse osmosis desalination, and disinfection that can be custom configured and built based on the flow rate and water makeup of the current plant operations.
Are you losing money due to an inefficient water or wastewater treatment process? Contact Genesis Water Technologies at 1-877-267-3699 or email our team at customersupport@genesiswatertech.com to schedule a free initial phone consultation with one of our water treatment experts.
We can help you discover the most cost-effective treatment solution for your specific needs.