FILMTECTM BW30LE-440 and BW30LE-4040 RO Elements to be Discontinued

The Dow Chemical Company recently sent a discontinuation notice for the FILMTEC BW30LE-440 and BW30LE-4040 which have been an industry standard for many years. Dow will not take orders for the current LE elements after May 30, but will honor any orders on the books even if shipment is not until the end of the year.

The good news is FilmTec Corporation has developed a new Low Energy, LE, membrane. FILMTEC elements rolled from this LE membrane have the highest active membrane areas, and operate at lower pressure reducing operating costs.

FILMTEC LE-440i:
This RO membrane element replaces the FILMTEC BW30LE-4040 RO Element. The FILMTEC LE-440i has 440 square feet of RO membrane which is the highest active membrane area in the industry.

The FILMTEC LE-440i element:

Has 10% higher productivity than the FILMTEC BW30LE-4040

Operates at lower pressure

Maintains High Rejection

Minimizes operating expense

Reduces total cost to produce industrial, commercial, or municipal water

Incorporates iLEC^TM interlocking endcaps minimizes O-ring leaks which improves permeate quality

FILMTEC< LE-400 element:
This RO membrane element replaces the FILMTEC BW30LE-440 RO Element. The FILMTEC LE-400 has 400 square feet of RO membrane.

The FILMTEC LE-400i element:

Has higher salt rejection for better permeate quality

Operates at lower pressure

Minimizes operating expense

Reduces energy cost to produce industrial, commercial, or municipal water

Water Softener Is Not Producing Soft Water

Problem:
Your customer's water softener is not producing soft water. The brine tank may be filling with water.

Symptoms:
A water softener is used to protect clothes from iron and manganese staining, plumbing fixtures and appliances from mineral deposit damage, and reduce household chemical usage. Your customer has spotting on their glassware, cloudiness on shower stalls, and dingy clothes. Also, they may be getting iron and manganese staining on their clothes, appliances, and bathroom fixtures.

Possible Solution:
The most common problem is the brine used to regenerate the softener is not getting into the unit. The first place to look for a problem is in the "brine injector". Just like the water aspirator you used in elementary chemistry class to make a vacuum, the water softener valve uses water flow through venturi across an orifice to pull brine from the brine tank into the water softener. If anything plugs the orifice, the brine will not get into the water softener. In the following video, Michael Urbans, Technical Manager for Res-Kem's Residential Segment, shows how to clean or repair the brine injector on a Pentair^® Fleck^® 7000 multiport softener valve.

Harmsco Cartridge Filter and Filter Housings

The Harmsco^® industrial cartridge filter and filter housing product line is now available from Res-Kem Corp. Res-Kem is proud to be a master distributor of the entire Harmsco^® industrial cartridge filter and filter housing product line including:

Harmsco^® HIF Series Up-Flow Cartridge Filter and Filter Housings

Harmsco^® Hurricane^® Combination Cyclone Separator and Cartridge Filter

ASME Code Harmsco^® HUR-Series Hurricane^® Filter Housings with Swing Bolt Closures

Harmsco^® WB-Series WaterBetter^® Single Cartridge Filter Housings


Standard features of the Harmsco product lines are:

NSF Certifications

FDA Grade Materials of Construction

Electropolished 304 Stainless Steel

Failsafe Top Lid Closure Utilizing Multiple Fasteners

Top Lid Design / Safest Closure On The Market

Patented Up-Flow Filter Housing Design

Vent free

No cross-contamination of "contaminated" and "clean" fluids

Here is the link to the complete Harmsco industrial product line.

Save $91,000 Annually In Low Pressure Boiler Water Treatment Chemical And Fuel Costs Using a Dealkalizer

A white paper entitled "Save $91,000 Annually In Low Pressure Boiler Water Treatment Chemical And Fuel Costs Using a Dealkalizer" was written by Kevin Preising a Sales Engineer at Res-Kem Corp.

This white paper explains how dealkalization of boiler feedwater improves boiler steam/condensate systems reliability, fuel savings, and chemical savings. The Return on Investment, ROI, is substantially less than one year when a dealkalizer is added to an existing boiler feedwater plant with a conventional sodium cycle water softener - deaerator pretreatment.

Annual chemical savings are over $76,000 and "cycle-up" energy savings are over $15,000 savings using a dealkalizer with chloride form anion ion exchange resin. Reductions in condensate piping replacements can add further cost savings and will make the ROI even more attractive. In applications where neutralizing amine concentrations are limited by FDA regulations, the dealkalizer can be used in conjunction with reduced feed of neutralizing amines, achieving an optimized solution of reduced chemical feed with improved return condensate pH numbers.

The goal of this discussion is confined to the addition of a dealkalizer post water softener.
The results of adding a dealkalizer are:
- Minimized waterside scale formation
- Minimized boiler-carryover
- Minimized boiler blow down through increased boiler cycles
- Increased return condensate pH values - thereby reducing the need for neutralizing amine chemical feed to control corrosion in the condensate.

Ion Exchange Resin Disposal

Recently a customer asked us what to do about getting rid of the old resin after replacing it with new. This is a common question we get all the time.

In general we can assume the following:

Municipal or City Treated water contains little or no contaminants that are harmful to drink; therefore, it is unlikely the used resin has any contaminants on it to prevent it from being land filled as ordinary trash.

Well water and untreated surface water supplies may contain contaminants that can remain on the resin after regeneration. These contaminants are usually metals and are found on the cation resin. They may include but are not limited to lead, copper, and arsenic. For more specific information about contaminants we recommend this site. http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html#mcls

How to dispose of used ion exchange resin is determined first and foremost by state and local government agencies. Regulations do vary from state to state. To satisfy local regulations it is recommended that you or your environmental manager call your regular waste removal company and ask them what to do. Most likely you will be asked to provide a TCLP test (Toxicity Leachate Characteristic Procedure) for your particular ion exchange resin, see attached pdf file for more specific information about this test.

Most likely the waste removal company will ask for an MSDS on the ion exchange resin you want to throw away. MSDS for most ion exchange resins can be found on the Res-Kem website using these links: http://www.reskem.com/pages/resin-pdfs.php

As part of our rebed service (service to change out spent ion exchange resin or activated carbon) Res-Kem will arrange for proper disposal of spent ion exchange resin or activated carbon on your behalf. This assumes we are providing turnkey removal and installation and the ion exchange resin or activated carbon is purchased from Res-Kem Corp. Sorry, we don't handle hazardous rebed applications.

TCLP Fact Sheet from EHSO

How to Correctly Size a Sodium Cycle IX Condensate Polisher

Problem: Customer Can't Get Enough Flow through Condensate Polisher => How to Correctly Size a Condensate Polisher

Customer called to state they couldn't get enough flow through their new condensate polisher. During the service visit, it was determined that the Deaerator and Condensate system was not being operated in accordance with Best Practices Procedures presented by the US Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

In this case the customer was feeding softened make up water into the Condensate tank along with the returned condensate, directing this water through the condensate polisher, then sending to the Deaerator. A Sodium Cycle Ion Exchange Condensate Polisher is typically sized and designed to treat only returned condensate, not to heat up make up water. In this case the polisher needed to handle both the make up and returns. It was never sized for this.



Normally, the softened make up water goes to the inlet of the deaerator, is heated by steam to remove the dissolved gasses, stored in the deaerator storage tank and sent to the boiler. The low-pressure condensate goes to a condensate receiver, through a condensate polisher and sent to the deaerator storage tank.

Most likely, the customer was thinking the condensate return, which is hot, would heat up the make up water before going to the deaerator, thus saving energy and steam. Conventionally, deaerators are designed to take cold softened make up water and heat it up in the steam chamber to remove oxygen and CO2 before sending it to the boiler.

The best way to save energy would be to install a Boiler Blowdown Heat Recovery System. This consists of a Blowdown Flash Tank and Heat Exchanger. Simply put, with this system the boiler blowdown water goes to a Flash Tank, where the pressure is reduced from the boiler operating pressure to the Deaerator operating pressure; typically 5 psig (228 deg F). When this blowdown water pressure is reduced, most of the water flashes to steam. The steam is directed to the deaerator steam inlet. The remaining blowdown water goes to a shell and tube or coil type heat exchanger, which is used to heat the softened make up water prior to going to the deaerator. The heat exchanger also reduces the blowdown water to safe and acceptable temperature levels for drains.

Separate from this, the condensate return water, having traveled through the myriad of piping, contains iron (crud) and some hardness and needs to be "polished" before being recycled back to the boiler. The condensate polishers are designed to handle only the returned condensate, which is a percentage of original make up water. When sizing up a condensate polisher we need to know the percentage of make up water that is "returned". It is only that percentage we are concerned about when we size up the condensate polisher.

Thus, a basic system would look like this:


The better energy saving system (as described above) would look like this:


A condensate polisher is used in addition to this Boiler Blowdown configuration.

Use of a condensate polisher and a good chemical treatment program enables the customer to use less make up water and energy. When considering use of a condensate polisher it's important to size it for treatment of the condensate only.

For more information about energy savings and Boiler Blowdown Systems see attached pdf files that the government has made available via the Internet.

US Department of Energy Steam Tip Sheet - Minimize Boiler Blowdown

US Department of Energy "Boiler Blowdown Heat Recovery Project Reduces Steam System Energy Losses at Augusta Newsprint" - Best Practices Technical Case Study

Pentair Water Increases Prices on Fleck Controls

Citing significant increases in raw materials, metals in particular, Pentair Water®, parent company of Fleck Controls, is implementing a price increase effective January 1, 2008 on select Fleck control valve products. Fleck residential control valves will increase an average of 3.6% and Fleck commercial valves will increase an average of 6%. Pentair has not published new price sheets as of this date, 11/26/2007.

3% Price Increases
Fleck 2510
Fleck 5600
Fleck 5600SE
Fleck 7000
Fleck 9100

5% Price Increases
Fleck 5000
Fleck 6700
Remote Meter Models

7% Price Increases
Fleck 1500
Fleck 2750
Fleck 2850 & 2850S
Fleck 2900
Fleck 3150
Fleck 3900
Fleck 4650
Fleck 9000
Fleck 9500
Fleck Twinflo
All accessories configured with valves.

Benefits of Working for Smaller Companies

Res-Kem Corp. currently has a job opening for a water treatment engineer. To fill this position I've been trying to think outside the box. Res-Kem is a great place to work, we're not perfect, but based on a recent poll of our employees we've discovered it's not such a bad place to be. If you're a water treatment engineer experienced in the any water related field (waste water, process water, boiler water, municipal water) I'd encourage you to apply.

If you are tired of the big corporate rat race and want to have the satisfaction of really making a difference, consider coming to work here. Decisions, big decisions, can be made in the course of the day without spending countless hours politicking. Some of the advantages of being small:

Big decisions made quickly - major stockholders on site

No senseless meetings and/or conference calls

High Flexibility

Ultimate Visibility

Simply put, your contribution is vital to the success of the company.

We're good at what we do, but we need your expertise to be even better. We are looking for people with experience in water treatment willing to help us get to the next level, help us innovate and create a world class organization devoted to:

Keeping our customers happy

The safety and well being of our co-workers

Maintaining our good reputation

Creating opportunity through sales growth

Innovation

Why not become a big fish in a smaller pond? While our pond may be smaller, your ripple effect here is large - one person really can make a difference.

One of our current job openings is:
Mechanical or Industrial Engineer

Budget Price for a Water Treatment System

A request we frequently get via our website is "I need a budget price for a water treatment system to treat a flow of X gpm."

Our Answer:
Res-Kem welcomes the opportunity to help you size the water treatment system but we need more information than just gallons per minute to correctly size and select the type of water treatment equipment you need. Your needs may not be as simple as a water softener, activated carbon filter, multi-media filter, dealkalizer, RO, DI, demineralizer, or Service DI, etc. Your water treatment application might require a combination of these different water treatment units.

Here is a simple water process schematic of what we are talking about:


To help you, we like to have the following information:

What is the flow rate (gpm) you need from the water treatment system?

Is the flow 24/7?

Do you have an untreated water analysis?

Do you have a treated water specification?

Do you want the system to be manual or automated?

If automated do you want a electro-mechanical timer or PLC?

Are there any special requirements for the system? Your application or industry will give us an indication of your needs.

What materials of construction do you want? Depending upon the size of the water treatment equipment, we can provide units in carbon steel, stainless steel, polyethylene-lined FRP, galvanized steel, PVC, CPVC, copper, etc.

Do you want us to provide a turnkey tearout-install-commission price?

When do you need the system to be installed?

When do you need the quotation by?

Please contact us and we can walk you through the selection and sizing of the industrial water softener, activated carbon filter, multi-media filter, dealkalizer, RO, DI, demineralizer, Service DI, etc. or whatever combination of these water treatment systems you need to make the water quality for your process.

Webtrol Centrifugal Pumps and Webtrol Replacement Parts Offered By Res-Kem

Res-Kem:

Distributes new Webtrol centrifugal pumps

Repairs installed Webtrol pumps

Provides replacement parts for Webtrol pumps used in water treatment applications.

Webtrol has a complete line of single stage centrifugal, two-stage centrifugal and multi-stage centrifugal pumps used in Reverse Osmosis (RO), Deionization (DI), and filtration systems. Pumps are made in stainless steel and cast iron.

The Webtrol V-Series Vertical Multi-Stage Centrifugal Pumps offer technically advanced designs to meet market demands including reverse osmosis, other high pressure, and hot water applications.

The Webtrol HT Series Multi-Stage Centrifugal Pumps are the original Heavy Duty Booster Pump, designed for high flow at high head. The HT Series Booster Pumps are built to withstand the rigorous demands generated through use in the Reverse Osmosis (RO), Deionization (DI), Car wash, Washdown and Booster Lift Station applications, as well as various other Industrial and Agricultural uses.

The Webtrol EZ Series Multi-Stage Centrifugal Booster Pumps are available in both Stainless Steel and Cast Iron fitted models.

The Webtrol Red Lion Centrifugal Pumps are close-coupled end suction centrifugal pumps. They are excellent choices for a wide variety of pumping applications such as irrigation for farms, lawn sprinklers, pressure boosting and circulation pumps for hot water or glycol.