Alternative Technologies in Water Treatment

Taylor Industrial
3 min readMay 30, 2019

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There are a lot of “alternative technologies” to replace traditional chemical treatment offered in the water treatment industry. To me, the interesting part is that these are often not new but rather recycled concepts that had trouble withstanding the test of time. They often have personal testimonials as to their validity, but rarely any solid data to support their claims.

They sound really good as they often appeal to everyone’s environmental consciousness. As a humanity, we would all like to live with fewer chemicals. However, proper application of “chemicals” to water systems provides the eco-friendly benefits of saving water and improving energy efficiencies. Additionally, by allowing systems to operate longer, we reduce the waste associated with disposing of failed equipment.

So, what should we do when our customers hear these great claims and want to see if these technologies could improve their facilities and reduce their chemical dependencies? After all, we are supposed to be our customers’ partners and experts in water systems.

I am a veteran of such claims, and I would like to offer some advice — especially to industry newcomers.

First, don’t get emotional! (“Easy for you to say, Chris!”) Yes, you could lose business, but acting defensive plays into the competition’s objectives. You are the expert on your customers’ systems, so if they are serious about trying alternative technologies then offer consulting support. If you walk away, then you lose (and, probably, so does the customer). You have the tools to help them through this process.

Here is what I suggest:

  • Ask your customer to have clearly defined “criteria for success.” What are they trying to achieve? Do they want to eliminate chemicals, reduce water and energy, reduce scale or corrosion, or improve flow rates?
  • Carefully determine the “baseline conditions” by collecting data. This is critical, as you need to know where you are starting to determine improvement (or degradation). What are the baseline levels for the “criteria?” Often systems get neglected and P/M (preventive maintenance items) get overlooked. It is human nature for daily P/M items to become weekly, weekly items to become monthly, and monthly items to become annually. Make sure your baseline data includes how often P/M items are done. Keep that same schedule during the trial. I suggest not starting the trial until a schedule is established and maintained, then start your baseline data collection. Solely increasing the frequency of P/M items often temporarily improves a system’s conditions.
  • Have a system in place to measure the important parameters during the trial. It is great if you could arrange for a third party to collect baseline data and then collect data during a trial, but that may be difficult to arrange and expensive for your customer. Data must be collected during the trial and be focused on reporting results related to the criteria for success.
  • Define the acceptable length of the trial. How long is it going to take to prove the new system works? Will there be annual reports confirming the system is still functioning correctly and who is responsible for collecting this information? How is the system meeting the criteria of success parameters defined at the beginning of the trial?

Alternative technologies have been around for decades. In my opinion, they come and go — then magically reappear. Water is most certainly a very important resource to all life. We must all work to conserve it. The water treatment industry must be the best steward for conserving water, with the additional challenges of conserving energy and protecting equipment in mind. As such, new technologies do need to be considered systematically and thoroughly.

We need to be the experts our customers can count on to evaluate alternatives and offer our advice based on experience with such alternatives. We must first carefully define the criteria for success and then measure trial results against baseline data. This will provide the proper consulting service our customers need to make educated decisions.

PS: For “alternative technologies” suppliers out there: If you follow my advice on defining “criteria for success” and are able to quantitatively prove you met those objectives during trials, then you are more likely to be accepted as a worthy technology in the industry.

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