Technology has improved all aspects of our existence. Yes, it has even made its way into the unfamiliar terrain of water treatment. The water treatment program for most cooling towers today is supported by the use of a “controller.” These are special devices which collect input signals from either electronic probes or meters and (together with chemical feed pumps) are used to proportionally output/dose treatment chemicals, or to add biocides. They also serve to regulate the required amount of bleed in order to control scale-forming tendencies.
In recent years however, controllers are getting even smarter. Now these devices can measure and control the actual concentration of different products in the cooling water, start/stop pumps, detect inventory levels, measure temperature, and even confirm the rate of pumping when activated. All of this can be accomplished over the internet to your PC or smartphone, putting control literally at one’s fingertips. The partial trade-off for such an investment of course is to save time and man-hours, by reducing the time needed to administer a water treatment program and allow Facility Managers to aim their staff at more value-adding tasks.
Like all technology, there are a plethora of options to choose from – so be sure to connect with your CWT or WT Specialist for guidance and to make the best choice possible. While helpful, these are not magic bullets that eliminate human participation. It is still important to test water, confirm chemistry and get the chemicals from the drum into your towers!
John D. Caloritis, CWT
Technical Director
The Metro Group, Inc.
