DoD Corrosion Prevention and Control Program demonstrates 20% make-up water reduction and 50% reduction in blow-down utilizing Zeta Rod Water Management Systems

Link to USACE ERDC ReportThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research Lab (USACE ERDC/CERL) has pub­lished data col­lect­ed dur­ing a 24-month demonstration/validation project in which the  Zeta Rod® Water Management System was eval­u­at­ed for its abil­i­ty to deliv­er doc­u­ment­ed water con­ser­va­tion results while pro­vid­ing cor­ro­sion, scal­ing, and bio­foul­ing pro­tec­tion in open-loop evap­o­ra­tive cool­ing sys­tems. The report, titled “Demonstration of Non-Corrosive, Capacitance-Based Water-Treatment Technology for Chilled Water Cooling Systems” eval­u­at­ed sites at four mil­i­tary instal­la­tions in Arizona, California, and Georgia.  The study includ­ed sys­tems where the tech­nol­o­gy was pre­vi­ous­ly installed as part of a 2010 eval­u­a­tion (ERDC/CERL TR-09–20) and added sys­tems that broad­ened the range of water qual­i­ties and oper­at­ing con­di­tions eval­u­at­ed.

Results and obser­va­tions indi­cat­ed that the tech­nol­o­gy deliv­ered an aver­age 20% reduc­tion in make­up water usage and 50% reduc­tion in blow-down, while meet­ing or exceed­ing cri­te­ria for pro­tec­tion of equip­ment from scale, cor­ro­sion, and bio­foul­ing. Reductions in make-up water rep­re­sent a major water sav­ings for an instal­la­tion, while reduc­tions of blow-down water rep­re­sent a sig­nif­i­cant less­en­ing of load on installation’s waste­water treat­ment sys­tem. (The direct use of the blow-down water for grey-water pur­pos­es appears fea­si­ble, but was not demon­strat­ed.)

The tech­nol­o­gy was effec­tive in water treat­ment and deposit con­trol for a wide range of water con­di­tions, from very soft, cor­ro­sion-pro­mot­ing water to very hard, scale-pro­mot­ing water. The val­i­dat­ed appli­ca­tions are rec­om­mend­ed for con­sid­er­a­tion by deci­sion mak­ers to reduce mil­i­tary instal­la­tion chem­i­cal uti­liza­tion and sup­port Department of Defense Net Zero Water goals.

Click Here to link to the Full Study:  “Demonstration of Non-Corrosive, Capacitance-Based Water-Treatment Technology for Chilled Water Cooling Systems” Report Number: ERDC/CERL TR14-15

Related Papers:
Cooling Tower Institute (CTI) Green Technologies 2012

“Demonstration of Electronic Capacitor-Based Water Treatment System for Application at Military Installations” Report Number: ERDC/CERL TR 09–20

USACE Demonstration of Noncorrosive, Capacitance-Based Water Treatment Technology for Chilled Water Cooling Systems

Link to USACE ERDC ReportTechnical Papers
September 2014
Demonstration of Noncorrosive, Capacitance-Based Water-Treatment Technology for Chilled-Water Cooling Systems : ERDC/CERL TR-14–15

20% reduc­tions in cool­ing tow­er make-up water and 50% reduc­tion in blow-down were achieved at four U.S. Military Bases over a 24 month study peri­od.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issues Directive & Guidance on Non-Chemical Treatment of Cooling Tower Water

Link to USACE ERDC Site

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Engineering and Construction Bulletin

Subject: Non-Chemical Treatment of Cooling Tower Water
Applicability: Directive and Guidance

Non-chem­i­cal treat­ment of cool­ing tow­er water has been found to be a viable option for many projects. Significant water and cost sav­ings can be real­ized depend­ing on the projects cool­ing sys­tems size, amount of year­ly oper­at­ing time for the sys­tem and con­di­tion of the make-up water. There are var­i­ous types of non-chem­i­cal treat­ment such as: hydro­dy­nam­ic cav­i­ta­tion, pulsed and sta­t­ic elec­tric field, ultra-son­ic, and mag­net­ic. CERL has per­formed a study on Zeta Rod Water Management Systems, a  type of non-chem­i­cal treat­ment (High Voltage Capacitance Based – HVCB) used on the cool­ing sys­tems at four U.S mil­i­tary bases. The bases select­ed had a wide range of make-up water use and cli­mat­ic con­di­tions. This sys­tem oper­at­ed by installing insu­lat­ed high volt­age elec­trodes into the cool­ing tow­er pip­ing cre­at­ing a strong elec­tro­sta­t­ic field in the water stream.

Click here to view the USACE Bulletin