BSEE WATER TREATMENT
Pre‐commissioning cleaning is essential in any new water system hand over. Get it wrong and the system is far more likely to suffer corrosion and poor water hygiene in the future. So how can effective pre‐ commissioning cleaning sit alongside sustainable construction aims? Steven Booth, Associate Director for Guardian Water Treatment, discusses.
re-commissioning cleaning is a standard requirement of all new closed water installations under the latest BSRIA guidelines. An essential process, it ensures a water system starts life in a clean and efficient state, preventing issues such as corrosion further down the line – as long as appropriate maintenance is employed. Cutting corners could result in repairs and a breakdown will cost more in the long-run. While the traditional process may seem extremely necessary, it is not particularly green, with large volumes of water historically required to flush through the system to remove debris and maximise flow rates.
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There is another way. By flushing and cleaning systems using the Hydrosphere process, which uses advanced filtration methods, the volume of water required can be greatly reduced, while still ensuring debris is removed. This approach also cuts cleaning times, saving water and reducing time on the job when compared with traditional methods. Monitoring is also key during this process, with a real-time indication of microbiological activity allowing for prompt and pre-emptive treatment adjustments.
Pre‐commissioning cleaning and beyond
Correct water system construction and pre-commissioning cleaning are essential for preventing on-going issues, in particular corrosion. Systems must be pressurised properly throughout the 24/7 cycle and expansion capacity needs to specified correctly, alongside system pressures. Once the right foundations have been laid, these
Advertising: 01622 699116 Editorial: 01354 461430 A progressive approach to pre‐commissioning cleaning
parameters must be maintained over the systems lifetime. If system pressures exceed this baseline, water losses may occur, requiring fresh, aerated water to top up the system. If pressures get too low, air could be sucked into the system. To prevent this from happening, monitoring should not only be employed during pre-commissioning cleaning, but throughout a system’s life. By having a continuous handle on water conditions, as soon as potentially corrosive conditions are flagged up, steps can be taken immediately to stop corrosion in its tracks. This is particular true of oxygen ingress. While chemical inhibitors can help, they should be considered a secondary line of defence, not a substitution for resolving oxygenation problems.
Bacterial levels can also influence corrosion, in particular the build-up of sulphite-reducing bacteria (SRB). Water monitoring should therefore not only check for oxygen, but the presence of these organisms.
Water sampling
BSRIA guidelines focus on regular water sampling to judge the condition of the system, and the treatment. While this has merit and should be adhered to, we believe that on-going monitoring is the only sure-fire way to prevent corrosion and hygiene issues.
New innovative monitoring systems, such as Hevasure, take constant, real-time readings, allowing for issues to be identified and addressed immediately. When installed during construction and the pre-commissioning and fit-out periods, this type of monitoring instantly notifies conditions that may cause corrosion, as well as unplanned water losses. Poor water hygiene and corrosion can be the death of HVAC systems, leading to inefficiencies
and breakdowns. Pre-commissioning cleaning is designed to prevent these issues, but only if it is backed-up by ongoing maintenance, with monitoring a key part of both of these processes. Progressive specifiers, installers and maintenance engineers should have an eye to the future, going beyond industry guidelines to choose the best solutions that improve the way buildings operate and minimise wastage. A blind acceptance that things are working as they should be is not enough, making monitoring – of all elements of a building – the lynchpin of modern construction.
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uCorrect water system construction and pre‐commissioning cleaning are essential for preventing on‐going issues such as corrosion.
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