Your water and wastewater treatment equipment is subject to continuous wear and tear, requiring repeat visits for parts and services. You can, though, take steps now to minimize repairs and keep your equipment running its best for years to come.

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One way to make quality improvements, take advantage of developing technology, and save time and money over buying new is with a rebuild or retrofit.

When you partner with WesTech’s in-house design experts for your retrofit, especially to replace previous WesTech equipment, you gain direct access to experts in the industry and avoid competitive bidding and costly consulting fees. Here are five ways that retrofits can improve treatment processes, illustrated by examples of WesTech experts who partnered with customers on projects.

1. Improve Operations

The conventional gravity filters at a drinking water plant in Iowa were showing their age. The facility could not maintain filter runs, sustain backwash rates, and retain media in the filter.

The aquifer that the plant draws from had strict removal guidelines. The plant needed to be efficient to make the best use of the limited water available.

We identified the backwash process as an area for improvement and suggested retrofitting with a MULTIWASH® backwash enhancement. This boosted filter cleaning performance and extended filter run lengths by providing simultaneous air and water backwash.

2. Boost Efficiency

As aging refineries handle increasing water loads, inefficient upstream oil capture can lead to large amounts of free oil in their wastewater systems. If budget or space constraints make plant expansion difficult, they can still take steps to get better results. For instance, WesTech recently helped a client retrofit their existing wastewater clarifiers with ducking skimmers. This retrofit solution helped them save millions on costly maintenance, as well as avoiding more expensive infrastructure replacement.

3. Upgrade Underperforming Equipment

Faced with a growing population and an increased water demand, an Alabama community was building a new facility for their own water supply so they would no longer need to buy water. Their new plant drew water from the Tennessee River, which holds high seasonal organic matter and turbidity.

For treatment, the community chose ultrafiltration membrane technology because it offered a physical barrier against contaminants. However, the original membranes did not meet expectations and needed constant chemical cleaning to reduce fouling. This took time and made it difficult to meet system demands. A retrofit of the original membranes helped the plant meet its original goals.

4. Improve Consistency

For a soda ash producer in Wyoming, the consistent grade of the final product is important. The method of soda ash production at the facility requires a hot dissolution process, and recovery of the hot pregnant liquor takes place in a primary clarifier.

The producer wanted to improve the recovery and purity of their final product. Any remaining solids in the clarifier overflow would lower the final product grade. WesTech successfully installed an EvenFlo® feedwell in the clarifier to minimize the overflow of suspended solids and reduce flocculant use. In the future, the plant will spend less on costly polymer.

5. Increase Capacity

A gold mine in the western U.S. increased profits after a complex carbon retention screen retrofit helped the mine increase throughput and gold capture.

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The mine used a resin-in-pulp/resin-in-leach (RIP/RIL) solution to recover gold more efficiently from its ore supply. The process uses thiosulphate leaching and resin media.

But the new media impeded flow through the mine’s CIL circuit. The problem meant that the mine risked not meeting its throughput target for production.

One option was to purchase new capital equipment, but engineers decided a better fix was a modified version of WesTech’s lift-assist pumping screen. The retrofit project cost less than a new purchase and increased gold yield and mine throughput.

Call Us for Help

WesTech has been providing water treatment retrofits for decades. We specialize in clarifier drive rebuilds and offer a complete array of rebuild, retrofit, refurbish, and replacement solutions. Let us know how we can help with your next project.

• Wastewater Management

How Ultrafiltration Elevates Water Quality?

Do you fear about contaminants like plastic, silica, proteins, endotoxins, viruses, smog, or silt for your water? If sure, Ultrafiltration (UF) is probably the solution for you. It is an affordable method to take away these impurities which give clean water with nearly 100% recovery. UF makes use of a size exclusion approach to separate pollution based totally on their size.

Ultrafiltration for water treatment is a latest technology that eliminates particulate matter, dissolved solids, bacteria, and other microorganisms. This technique forces water through a semi-permeable membrane which lets only water to pass whilst trapping impurities. Popular technologies of membrane filtration includes ultrafiltration, microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and nanofiltration. UF is frequently used as a pretreatment for water with a high silt density before reverse osmosis.

The major purpose of ultrafiltration for water treatment is to get rid of dissolved and colloidal debris sized between 0.1 and 1 microns. It can retain debris between 0.005 and 10 microns. Suspended solids and excessive molecular weight solutes are trapped within the membrane which has pores sized between 0.001 and 0.05 microns. UF can also eliminate large molecules like proteins and polysaccharides. It can reduce turbidity to as much as 0.1 NTU.

Ultrafiltration is used in lots of areas inclusive of drinking water production, wastewater treatment, food and beverage processing, and biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Ultrafiltration is vital for getting rid of proteins and bacteria in the dairy sector. The UF unit is powerful at setting apart proteins by size which is likewise beneficial in biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.

Why is Ultrafiltration the Best Choice?

• Consistent Performance: Ultrafiltration membranes for wastewater reliably dispose of pollutants from water, no matter its source or quality. This makes UF appropriate for treating water from sources like wastewater, groundwater, and surface water.
• High Quality: UF treatment produces high-quality water without needing chemicals. The treated water meets strict requirements for suspended debris, turbidity and microbiological pollutants which make it safe and smooth for drinking and industrial use.
• No Need for Chemicals: UF is a physical technique that does not require chemicals for coagulation, flocculation, or disinfection. However, chemical cleaning is done to prevent membrane clogging. The system is backwashed hourly and chemical cleaning with caustic, chlorine and HCl is performed every four hours to ensure continuous operation.
• Less Space: UF systems are more compact than traditional methods like multimedia or sand filtration which make them ideal for transportable systems or areas with limited space.
• Low Operating Cost: Although Ultrafiltration membranes for wastewater may cost more upfront, they have lower ongoing expenses. UF uses less energy and fewer chemicals which make it more economical overall.
• Flexibility: UF systems are modular and easy to scale up or down based on water demand. They are suitable for both large-scale municipal or industrial water treatment and small-scale residential use.
• Minimal Environmental Impact: UF has a lower carbon footprint and uses less energy and fewer chemicals which make it environment friendly.

What are the Requirements of Water Quality for Ultrafiltration Membranes?

Ultrafiltration membranes have pores smaller than 0.01 microns which make it hard to separate and compare gel-like substances in filtered solutions. Some substances can pass through the pores while others stick to the membrane by reducing water permeability and affecting filtration which lead to poor water quality.

UF requires specific standards for the inlet water temperature, pH value, and concentration. If these standards are not met, the quality of the ultrafiltration water will be impacted. Therefore, maintaining the right inlet water quality is crucial for effective UF performance.

• Temperature: The performance of ultrafiltration membranes is significantly affected by the incoming water temperature. The optimal efficiency for membrane permeability is at 25°C. As the water temperature increases, the permeability also increases. However, if the temperature is too high, it can negatively impact the membrane's performance. Therefore, measures should be taken to lower the water temperature when it is too high to maintain optimal performance.
• pH Value: Different ultrafiltration membrane materials have specific pH requirements. For PAN or PVDF materials, the required pH range is 2-12 while for cellulose acetate materials, it is 4-6. Ensuring the incoming water meets these pH requirements is essential for maintaining the membrane's effectiveness.
• Microbial Removal: To remove microorganisms and bacteria in the membrane system, an oxidant such as NaClO3 at a concentration of 1-5mg/L can be added. If bacteria are not treated, they can multiply and clog the ultrafiltration micro-pores which potentially completely block the inside of the hollow fiber. Therefore, it is crucial to remove bacteria from the incoming water to prevent clogging and maintain membrane performance.
• Turbidity: The turbidity of the incoming water should be below 5 NTU. Suspended solids, microorganisms, and other impurities can cause the water to become turbid. Keeping turbidity below this level helps ensure the ultrafiltration system works effectively.
• Suspended Solids and Colloids: While ultrafiltration membranes can remove fine particles and colloids, some colloids with specific charges can harm the membranes. Coagulants which are high molecular weight polymers can form hydrogen bonds to improve the removal of colloids, but they cannot be completely removed. Combining several methods such as adding pH adjusters, bleach, lime, sodium carbonate, and oxidizing agents like chlorine can improve coagulation efficiency. Adhering to these methods helps maintain the effectiveness of the ultrafiltration membranes.

Each of these requirements must be strictly followed to ensure the ultrafiltration membrane performs at its best for industrial water treatment and other wastewater treatments which provide high-quality water. Adjusting the incoming water temperature, pH, and turbidity, and removing bacteria and suspended solids are all necessary steps to extend the lifespan of the ultrafiltration membrane and maintain optimal water quality.

Conclusion

Ultrafiltration water treatment is used in many places from homes to businesses. For homeowners, small systems provide clean water for drinking and cooking. In commercial settings, larger systems handle all water needs including cleaning, irrigation, and manufacturing. Ultrafiltration is versatile which make it a great option for different water treatment needs.

Want more information on ultrafiltration membrane system? Feel free to contact us.