WATER TREATMENT


www.heatingandventilating.net


Break the sludge before it breaks the boiler


slud


brea iler


oiling sludge es the options for heating and


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t some point in their lives, most homeowners have bled their radiator and been surprised at the colour of the liquid that greets them from the bleed valve. As an installer, you’ve likely been asked questions about why the water is dirty, what causes it, whether it’s harmful and what can be done to combat it.


What is sludge?


Sludge is largely caused by corrosion of ferrous metals that make up the system with more than 98% being magnetite. When oxygen in the water reacts with metals such as the steel inside a customer’s radiator, the build-up — if left untreated — can be costly. Because magnetite is a mineral oxide of iron, any additional oxygen in the system that may be caused by leaks or a simple radiator change can speed up the reaction of corrosion and increase the risk of inefficiency or total boiler breakdown. In fact, 80% of boiler breakdowns that occur within the first five years of a boiler being installed are caused by magnetite build up in the system.


Detecting sludge build-up


The most common tell-tale sign of sludge build-up is cold patches on radiators, usually starting at the bottom of the unit. The connecting pipework is hot but the radiator remains cold to the touch. Sometimes, customers may also complain about kettling, the need to bleed their radiators more regularly than normal, or that the house is taking longer to heat up


than usual. To detect sludge build-up quickly, many installers now use thermal imaging equipment. With leading brands such as Testo and FLIR offering both standalone equipment or options that plug into a smartphone, thermal imaging cameras are a useful way of visually demonstrating the problem to customers, and also showing them the results after the problem has been resolved.


Flushing the problem problem


recommended course of action. As an installer, the onus is to educate customers although this clearly is not the naradiatoristoremoveitfrom


se of action. As an installer, the onus is to educate customers hose through in the garden, a customers to tackle sludge in


uses specialist equipment to rid the system of corrosion debris and decrease the nce of commercial systems, hing or gravity flushing. system. There are three ways


with its origins in the maintena s:mainsflushing,powerflush ving a professional flush the s


pment to rid the system of corrosion debris and decrease the again and while this method p ming task that many custome


ers are unwilling to pay for. provides exceptional results, it


escoldwaterfromthemains to flush contamination out of ffective, less fiddly and more affordable devices such as enable installers to change th n the radiators even further, e s the least effective method th


Chemical inhibitors


nhibitors options.


The key here is to educate your customers about the importance of their ded. rt L does require the system to scale reducer can keep the sforEnglandandWales,a as outlined in the Compliance


oftheUKBuildingRegulations has been thoroughly cleaned,


reinhibitorchemicalsareadd free for longer. However, Par or and, where appropriate, a


is to educate your customers about the importance of their service and inform them that one of the checks involved will st to ensure that it remains at


the recommended levels to ensure sludge build-up doesn’t return. A useful education piece is to explain that up to 30% of the system’s fuel consumption is wasted without correct water treatment measures.


warranties can become invalid without following the correct procedures. in the UK so ignore chemical inhibitors at your peril as the boiler manufacturer’s early all boiler manufacturers


me invalid without following the correct procedures. hemical inhibitors at your peril as the boiler manufacturer’s itor is also a requirement for n ect water treatment measure p


p


explain that up to 30% of the system’s fuel consumption is ed levels to ensure sludge build-up doesn’t return. A useful an inhibitor concentration tes


erefore most installers will use ensuring a more efficient flush. he flow direction, disturbing


!"


July 2020


www.heatingandventilating.net


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