Evaporative “Swamp” Coolers Benefit from Zeta Rod Systems

Diagram of Evaporative Coolers Treated with Zeta Rod Systems

Are you inter­est­ed in pro­tect­ing and reduc­ing main­te­nance on evap­o­ra­tive cool­ing equip­ment, sig­nif­i­cant­ly extend­ing the life of cool­er pads and CELdek® media, con­serv­ing water, and elim­i­nat­ing odor and scale buildup?   Zeta Rod® elec­tron­ic capac­i­tor-based water treat­ment sys­tems deliv­er these ben­e­fits and more with a sim­ple  instal­la­tion into the main water line feed­ing one or more evap­o­ra­tive cool­ers.

The Problem:

Evaporative “Swamp” Coolers are a rel­a­tive­ly low cost method of pro­vid­ing com­fort cool­ing in dry cli­mates; espe­cial­ly in large open areas such as ware­hous­es, open bay auto repair facil­i­ties, vehi­cle barns, hangars, and ani­mal shel­ters.

While this may be the most eco­nom­i­cal­ly prac­ti­cal method of pro­vid­ing cool­ing in these sit­u­a­tions, every­one tasked with main­tain­ing evap­o­ra­tive cool­ing sys­tems knows that there are many prob­lems asso­ci­at­ed with their use.  Heavy scale for­ma­tion, foul odors and high main­te­nance costs are com­mon­ly accept­ed as unavoid­able.  The result­ing dam­age caus­es many prob­lems:

  • Salty scale encrus­ta­tion on the exte­ri­or of the cool­er hous­ing pen­e­trates the pro­tec­tive fin­ish and accel­er­ates cor­ro­sion.
  • Scale fills the pore space of the cool­er pads and fills the lou­vers of the hous­ing pan­els restrict­ing air flow and reduc­ing the out­put of cool air.  Media effi­cien­cy and ser­vice life are great­ly reduced.
  • Scale accu­mu­la­tion inside the pumps and tub­ing reduces water flow and cool­ing effi­cien­cy.
  • Scale caus­es float valves to stick open or closed, requir­ing expen­di­tures for labor and parts.
  • Bacterial growth pro­duces foul odors which are unpleas­ant and can present a threat to human health.

Zeta Rod Systems Solve Problems Associated with Evaporative Coolers

Zeta Rod sys­tems are an elec­tron­ic dis­per­sion tech­nol­o­gy that effec­tive­ly boosts the nat­ur­al sur­face charge of organ­ic and inor­gan­ic par­ti­cles in water.  For evap­o­ra­tive cool­ing appli­ca­tions, the Zeta Rod is insert­ed into the pip­ing that feeds the cool­ers.  The sys­tem con­sists of the Zeta Rod, which is an insu­lat­ed ceram­ic probe, ener­gized by a pow­er sup­ply that con­verts stan­dard 110–220 VAC into 30 kV DC.  The Zeta Rod is insert­ed into a ground­ed stain­less steel cham­ber that is plumbed into the pip­ing, cre­at­ing a pow­er­ful cylin­dri­cal capac­i­tor.  As water flows through the cham­ber, bac­te­ria and scale form­ing par­ti­cles receive a strong boost their nat­ur­al sur­face charge.  The strong­ly charged par­ti­cles repel one anoth­er and remain in sta­ble dis­per­sion, rather than unit­ing to form scale or allow­ing the for­ma­tion of micro­bial colonies.  The reduc­tion of bac­te­r­i­al growth elim­i­nates the prin­ci­pal cause of foul odors from which the name “swamp cool­er” orig­i­nat­ed.

The Benefits:

  • Scale for­ma­tion on wet­ted sur­faces is elim­i­nat­ed.  Evaporated salts wash off with a gar­den hose.
  • Extends life of Aspen pads by 2–3 years, and CELdek® media indef­i­nite­ly.  Eliminates the need for mid-sea­son main­te­nance and pad changes.
  • Service life of the cool­er and frame is extend­ed by 50% or more.
  • The Zeta Rods allows for reduc­tion of bleed, while main­tain­ing full effi­cien­cy of the cool­er. Achieve 25% or more water con­ser­va­tion.
  • More effec­tive cool­ing achieved because wet­ted sur­faces are pre­vent­ed from foul­ing.
  • Zeta Rod requires no main­te­nance. Electrical use is almost too low to mea­sure.  A Zeta Rod sys­tem will pay for itself quick­ly in reduced cool­er main­te­nance time and replace­ment parts.  Workers are hap­pi­er with fresh smelling cool air.