The Splash

Design and Care of Reverse Osmosis Systems, Part 1: Design

Reverse osmosis (RO) systems offer power plant owners and operators a reliable and well-proven water treatment solution. However, designing and caring for an RO system requires a thorough understanding of a plant’s water supply and the technology’s capabilities. Part one of this series will review the importance of water samples and pilot studies as plant engineers begin to design an RO system to match [...]

Pharmaceutical Plant’s Efficiency Improves After Correcting Boiler Issues

After working with their water treatment vendor for three years, a Southern United States pharmaceutical plant was unable to identify the source of boiler scale and low condensate return rate. The boiler scale and a low return rate were causing increased fuel and operational costs. U.S. Water conducted a plant survey to uncover the boiler system issue. Within a week of the initial plant survey, U.S. Water had [...]

Together We Can: U.S. Water and Ethanol Industry Exports

Expansion of the volume of ethanol exported to the rest of the world is critical to profitability and expansion of the industry. Exports continue to set records (927 million gallons in the first seven months of 2018) but can be limited by challenges created by inconsistency in quality specifications and the methods used to guarantee them. U.S. Water has stepped forward in the last two years to help our [...]

U.S. Water Supports the Grassy Waters Everglades Preserve in West Palm Beach, Florida

In September 2018, the Grassy Waters Everglades Preserve expanded its habitat garden with the help of U.S. Water and Area Manager Justin Treece. Justin and other local volunteers planted trees native to the area and the everglades in the Preserve’s growing habitat garden. The Preserve is an expansive wetlands ecosystem that serves as the freshwater supply for the City of West Palm Beach, South Palm Beach and Palm [...]

Snack Producer Utilizes New Foam Control Options and Saves $30,000 in Chemical Annually

A major Midwestern snack producer had concerns about the high costs of the defoamer product that they were using and were interested in finding an alternative that would be more cost effective. U.S. Water was already a current vendor for the snack producer’s utility water products and services within the plant, and offered assistance in other areas, which included optimizing the foam control needs of the [...]

U.S. Water’s Engineering & Equipment Quality Management System Achieves ISO 9001:2015 Certification

U.S. Water is proud to announce our Engineering and Equipment Quality Management System (QMS) is now ISO 9001:2015 certified. Following an extensive evaluation and auditing process, U.S. Water’s Engineering and Equipment QMS received this certification by meeting international ISO 9001:2015 requirements. Achieving this certification demonstrates U.S. Water’s commitment to providing quality and consistent [...]

Boiler Feedwater – Making the Case for Reverse Osmosis

Boiler feedwater is comprised of two very important, and increasingly expensive resources, steam condensate return and city (or well) makeup water. The condensate is valuable due to low electrical conductance, purity and high temperature. The makeup water is valuable because it is being overused and under conserved in many parts of the country, making the cost of water rise in almost all parts of the United States. [...]

Biological Augmentation Minimizes Odor, Improves Environmental Safety and Optimizes Operation at Wastewater Treatment Facility

A protein further processing plant located in midwest United States was concerned with objectionable odors, hydrogen sulfide levels, and poor system efficiency in their wastewater treatment plant. The cause of these issues was found to be a sludge cap on their waste receiving pit and the associated growth of anaerobic bacteria beneath the cap. To remediate this problem, select strains of naturally occurring aerobic [...]

Protecting Your Power Plant from Corrosion During Downtime

In the Power industry, every minute is critical. A smooth plant start-up is vital to operations, and directly linked to lay-up procedures. A thorough understanding of critical lay-up and start-up strategies & procedures, paired with a proper corrosion control protection program can prevent unscheduled downtime, reduce operating costs and increase plant reliability. In the gas fired combined cycle market, [...]

Power Plant Water Treatment System Restored After a Decade of Non-Use

After ten years of inactivity, a midwestern combined cycle power plant needed to bring its water treatment system back into operation. The previous equipment had been sitting idle after the previous owner went bankrupt, and required major cleanup and upgrades. While other water treatment companies were offering a chemical exclusive program, it was evident the plant would require a complete integrated solution to once [...]

U.S. Water’s Chemical Operations Quality Management System Achieves ISO 9001:2015 Certification

U.S. Water is proud to announce our Chemical Operations Quality Management System (QMS) is now ISO 9001:2015 certified. Following an extensive evaluation and auditing process, U.S. Water’s Chemical Operations QMS received this certification by meeting international ISO 9001:2015 requirements. Achieving this certification demonstrates U.S. Water’s commitment to providing quality and consistent service to our [...]

An Emerging Dichotomy in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

Despite industry utilizing the internet for communications to “things” far before the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) terminology, much focus was put on the consumer market as the general IoT began to develop. This could be due to innovators focusing on the perceived higher volume of “things” required for the consumer market or the ability for the average innovator to have a deeper [...]