Environmentally-Friendly Water Treatment Chemicals for Cooling Towers

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Environmentally Friendly Water Treatment Chemicals for Cooling Towers

When it comes to cooling tower chemicals, there is no one size fits all solution; but for the right situation there is one option that is proving to have many significant advantages over the competition. Enter the EcoSAFE Solid Feed System, Clarity’s environmentally-friendly water treatment for cooling towers powered by Smart Release®. EcoSAFE is doing for cooling towers what rubber tires did for the automobile industry –  making them safer, more efficient, and easier to maintain.

EcoSAFE is a full water treatment feed station for cooling towers that features specially designed feeders and chemicals that eliminate the need for liquid chemistry. The major differences between EcoSAFE and traditional solid feed water treatment options are that EcoSAFE’s scale and corrosion inhibitor tablets are truly dry (not a paste), they do not require mixing, and are engineered to offer many eco-friendly advantages over traditional liquid water treatment including reduced toxicity. In fact, while you may (and should) be hesitant to plunge your bare hand into a typical drum of liquid corrosion or scale inhibitor, you could easily hold a handful of EcoSAFE inhibitor in your hand. These tablets are less toxic than Asprin and they do not require pH altering additives to stabilize their chemistry.

EcoSAFE Feeder Installation

EcoSAFE Feeder System Setup

The secret lies in the coating of the tablet. The tablet is polymer coated and acts in very much the same way as time-released medicine. When in use, EcoSAFE’s membrane coating allows water into the tablet, where it creates a concentrated chemical slurry which is then pushed out of the membrane via osmotic pressure. This happens slowly over time allowing for a very consistent release rate and virtually eliminates high chemical spikes which are often associated with other dry chemical feed applications. This coating also acts as a barrier between users and the active EcoSAFE chemistry inside. Therefore, EcoSAFE tablets are extremely safe to handle, and the potential for hazardous chemical spills is completely eliminated.

Illustration of EcoSAFE's solid feed water treatment chemistry, and how a dry tablet transfers chemistry to the water

Here is a great video that shows how EcoSAFE and Smart Release technology work:

Is EcoSAFE Environmentally-Friendly?

Simply stated: yes. In its most common applications, it requires no energy to run. Properly installed EcoSAFE feeders are easily plumbed into your existing system and water flows through them. As the water flows through the feeders, the exact amount of chemical needed to treat the system is released into the flow. No measuring, no guessing, no calculating… all that extra work has already been done. And there’s no additional fuel consumption, which means lower CO2 footprint.

Requiring no electricity to operate is only the tip of the iceberg in reducing the overall carbon footprint of your cooling tower’s chemical feed station. No more liquids means no more heavy polyethylene drums lying around your mechanical room. And no water to ship means that, in many cases, total shipping weights can be reduced by over 600lbs during every 30-day period. That means reduced shipping costs with better shipping and storage options. EcoSAFE chemicals are generally shipped in cardboard boxes, which are lightweight and 100% recyclable. The elimination of the polyethylene drum and the huge decrease in shipping weight means less fossil fuels are being consumed to deliver the same amount of protection to your cooling towers. And while there is really no such thing as 100% eco-friendly water treatment chemicals that we know of, using an EcoSAFE Solid Feed System does reduce a typical liquid water treatment program’s carbon footprint by over 73%! That is a big deal, especially if your facility has made a commitment to the environment and sustainability.

This huge reduction in carbon footprint is one way in which EcoSAFE Solid Feed System for Cooling Towers is helping some buildings qualify for additional LEED points.

What About Biocides?

A widely accepted modality of cooling tower water treatment is running a dual (or alternating) biocide program. This means that the chemical program being administered calls for an oxidizing biocide and a non-oxidizing biocide. Oxidizing biocides kill microorganisms by destroying their cell walls and oxidizing protein within the organism. Typical examples of oxidizing biocides are chlorine and bromine. Non-oxidizing biocides are chemicals that kill by ways other than oxidation, including interference with cell metabolism and structure. DBNPA and isothiazoline are examples of non-oxidizing biocides. EcoSAFE allows for a dual biocide program. Biocide canisters are available in various forms and sizes depending on the application.

EcoSAFE biocides are delivered in much the same way as the corrosion inhibitors. Since they are also shipped dry, they are highly concentrated and are a very effective method to reduce biological organisms in cooling water. In fact, if you have been trying to figure out how to kill legionella in a cooling tower or trying to develop a long-term strategy for keeping bio-organisms like legionella in your cooling tower at bay, look no further than EcoSAFE.

The New SRG-2 System

While EcoSAFE is a potential solution for many (if not most) cooling tower water treatment applications, it is not for every system. Most of the limitations regarding EcoSAFE have to do with the overall size of the operation; however, we have seen success with Smart Release water treatment on many very large cooling tower systems.

To that extent, we have recently introduced the SRG-2 system that provides real-time monitoring and control release like a liquid with all be benefits of the solid technology: 

  • Controls feed of scale and corrosion products based on configured ppm set point
  • Controls oxidizing biocide feed based on configured ORP set point or timer
  • Controls non-oxidizing biocide feed based on configured timer

TIMER CONTROL

  • Use timer control functions for your feed of BCDMH and Bio-Clear (DBNPA) products
  • The graph below depicts a timer control BCDMH feed scheme. You can see excellent ORP spike correlations with your BCDMH relay timer.
  • Another option for BCDMH feed is utilizing the ORP setpoint functionality built into your control.
BCDMH Control graph for EcoSAFE solid feed water treatment for cooling towers

Clarity Has the Solution:

If you would like more information on how the EcoSAFE technology can benefit your facility, please contact us for a free survey!

About Clarity Water Technologies

Clarity Water Technologies is the leading industrial and commercial water treatment company, providing expert consulting and cutting-edge chemistry for your facility’s heating, cooling, potable and process applications.

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About the Clarity Blog

Clarity’s Water Treatment blog is written to provide tips and helpful information to anyone who is involved in managing a water treatment application at a facility. 

Our water treatment experts are here to help, no matter what your facility’s heating, cooling, potable or process application may be.  Check our blog for articles on topics like boiler and cooling water, cooling tower cleaning, legionella prevention and remediation, and environmentally-friendly water treatment options.

Clarity Water Technologies is the leading industrial and commercial water treatment company in the U.S.

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