Commercial Water Treatment is often focused on protecting and extending the life of equipment. This equipment is often key to the end product or service of a particular business.  From cleaning the molds that form chocolates, to ensuring that a lab gets the cleanest water to ensure test results, our commercial applications don’t always have to do with the water employees drink. In this month’s customer highlight, we’re sharing the story of a processing company we helped recently. We installed a system that protects a series of large steam boilers from hard water.

Replacing Unsupported, Unhelpful Equipment

A company contacted a number of Commercial Water Treatment companies to quote a new system.  They wanted to replace a system their previous provider would not service.  That system was only 10 years old, yet they were told they would have to purchase a brand-new system rather than have the old repaired.  Secondwind was one of the companies competing for this business.

The Problem

This company had a 10-year-old twin tank softener system from another commonly known water treatment brand. However, they were operating on only one of their two tanks because the controller failed on one of the softener valve heads. This caused intermittent hard water to enter the steam boilers. Any level of hardness can wreak havoc on steam systems. These systems can cost over $75,000-$100,000 to install/replace. So, pre-boiler water treatment is critical to protecting and extending the life of the boilers.

Having only one operational tank forced the boiler plant operator to have to manually regenerate the unit every day. This is much more often than should be necessary. The facility needs both tanks because they are a 24/7 operation, so this was allowing hard water to enter the steam boiler during each regeneration of the single online tank. That process can take up to three hours.

When they went to their former water treatment company, they were told that the valve head on the broken tank was no longer supported. They were told that a 10-year-old system couldn’t be repaired. They solicited other vendors for bids because they were unhappy with this response. Basically, they felt like that vendor did not care about servicing their system, or their business.

The Solution

Secondwind was able to offer a Kinetico water treatment system that would meet their current and projected growth needs. This non-electric, non-metallic valve head is not subject to corrosion, humidity, warm temperature, or moisture, making it a perfect solution for this particular situation in which the softener is located in a boiler room.  Our cost for the job was 10% less than other bids for the job, and they also felt that Secondwind puts our customers’ needs first. This is how we ultimately ended up with the opportunity to help this particular customer.

Here is their system before (kinda a mess):

Here’s their new Secondwind Kinetico Commercial Water Treatment System (clean and orderly):

Customized Water Treatment Systems in NH

Secondwind Water Systems prides ourselves on our depth of personalized service and system design. We have experience with a large number of treatment systems and technologies and we have the expertise to combine those systems to meet even the most unusual requirements. Our expertise in customizing water treatment systems for complex problems in large or small businesses is just one of the many reasons why we’re the region’s leader in commercial water treatment.