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Transcript: Mobile Water Treatment

Water is often referred to as the lifeblood in many industrial and manufacturing processes.  In these cases, an uninterrupted supply of quality water is necessary to ensure reliable plant performance, consistent productivity and system efficiency.  When emergency or short-term issues arise, such as changes in raw water quality, supply water scarcity or during maintenance shutdowns, mobile water treatment provides a means of keeping the water running and the plant operational. 

Generally used for short-term or emergency water needs, mobile water treatment services from Siemens Water Technologies provides a convenient source of water to match customer site and raw water conditions.  Mobile water service helps customers meet their treated water needs without capital investment, and helps ensure a safer work environment by minimizing on-site waste generation and hazardous chemical handling.  The mobile combination RO unit from Siemens is a self-contained system that employs pretreatment and reverse osmosis (RO) capability in a single trailer.

The system is capable of producing 200 gpm of high quality product water under a variety of influent water conditions.  A pretreatment step is necessary to remove raw water impurities prior to entering the RO system, to prevent damage or clogging of the membrane and to ensure effective performance.  The trailer includes 3, 54 inch diameter PreFlex® vessels containing either multimedia, carbon or softening resin, depending on the contaminants needed to be removed.

The PreFlex units are designed in accordance with ASME code standards, and, therefore, are suitable for a wide variety of applications and environments.  As a filtration unit, the media bed consists of anthracite, sand and garnet for the removal of suspended solids before the RO treatment process.  The units can also be configured as softeners to remove hardness, green sand filters for iron and manganese removal or activated carbon units for chlorine removal.  The pre-flex units are fully automated for backwash or regeneration, based on time and service, or when differential pressure exceeds a certain set-point.

The mobile trailers also include multiple chemical addition points, pH adjustment and anti-scalant chemicals are commonly added to the process to prevent fouling and protect the RO membranes.  Fouling of the membranes results in decreased quality and quantity of water production, increased energy usage and threatens operational reliability and up time.

Prior to reverse osmosis, the stream will pass through an additional filter step.  Cartridge filters further protect the membranes from fouling by removing particles down to one micron.  The reverse osmosis step is performed by two FlexRO® 100 units.  The FlexRO forces the water at a high pressure through a membrane with pores just big enough to allow the pure water to pass through it, while rejecting most chemical ions.  The FlexRO units can be operated in single-pass mode to produce 200 gallons per minutes of high quality water, with 95 to 97 percent removal of the total dissolved ions.  Alternatively, when used in the double-pass mode, the FlexRO produces 90 gallons per minute of very ultra high quality water with 98 to 99 percent removal of dissolved ions.  The mobile combination RO unit includes instrumentation and equipment for a fully automatic and monitored operation, and is backed by an inventory of critical components from seven regional dispatch and regeneration facilities.  Setup is minimized with quick hose and simple utility connections, all of which are performed by our skilled installation and service technicians.

Siemens’ mobile fleet has maximum versatility to treat a wide range of raw water conditions and flow rates.  In addition to the combination RO unit, mobile systems are available in a range of proven treatment options, including clarification, filtration, demineralization and reverse osmosis membrane filtration.  Siemens’ mobile treatment services ensure that you receive an uninterrupted, consistent supply of treated water, of the quality and quantity your site requires.

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