A regional hospital in the Western United States, with over 400 beds, suddenly experienced suspected cases of Legionnaires’ Disease among their patient population. Legionnaires’ Disease is a pneumonia caused by a species of Legionella bacteria. It typically spreads through mists and aerosols created by water-cooled air-conditioning systems, decorative water features or domestic water systems. A water [...]
Multiple Midwestern ethanol facilities within the same organization were experiencing controls failure due to aging PLC and HMI equipment. Current plant control equipment was more than ten years old and had reached end of life. The outdated equipment caused plant shutdowns and a loss in production, which can cost up to $10,000 per hour. Kurita America recommended an integrated controls upgrade solution to prevent [...]
The City of Wausau, Wisconsin was exploring options to address aging infrastructure concerns at their existing drinking water treatment plant. In 2017, they hired a consulting engineer who contacted Kurita America for input on available treatment process and equipment options. The pending capital improvement project was an opportunity to upgrade with new technology, improving water quality and overall efficiency. The [...]
Kurita America is proud to announce that the move into its newly constructed corporate headquarters in Brooklyn Park is complete! The new address is 6600 94th Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55445 Built by Ryan Companies , the expansive 156,000 square foot facility brings together the company’s established legacy brands, U.S. Water, Fremont Industries and Tonka Water under one roof for the first time [...]
Many biofuel plants are working toward efficiency and plant optimization to increase ethanol production. Often when plants move forward with expansion efforts, the adverse impact on system efficiencies , such as cooling, is overlooked. Without proper evaluation of the existing cooling system operation, plants could spend additional capital on an unnecessary cooling tower expansion or experience an increase in [...]
Programmable Logic Controllers ( PLCs ) are industrial digital computers that were adapted to control manufacturing processes, such as assembly lines, robotic devices or any activity that requires high reliability, ease of programming and process fault diagnosis. The first PLC system was installed at a General Motors manufacturing plant in the early 1970’s, which allowed for a more proficient way to modify the [...]
A Midwest Feed Mill was treating its incoming boiler feed water with amine chemical to combat high levels of alkalinity. While amine can be effective at addressing alkalinity, unfortunately, it is one of the most expensive chemicals used in boiler water treatment. If the facility chose not to treat the well water for alkalinity, it could result in failure of the steam piping and condensate return lines, a costly plant [...]
As featured in District Energy.
The University of Central Florida (UCF), the second-largest university in the nation, sought out strategic partnerships from industry-leading organizations, Kurita America among them, to develop a comprehensive water reuse and reclamation pilot program to help meet their sustainability and water conservation plans. Read District Energy's cover story to learn how Kurita America’s innovative [...]
As featured in Process Cooling.
A successful water-management program for a process cooling water system will rely on a number of factors, some of which may be overlooked or ignored until a problem arises. There is much to consider in order to keep equipment operating efficiently, minimize rejection rates, prevent corrosion-related failures, conserve water and energy and reduce the risks associated with waterborne pathogens such as Legionella . [...]
In compliance with their existing water discharge permit, Saint John’s University’s central plant discharged their boiler streams to an on-campus wastewater treatment plant with the cooling tower blowdown discharged to a nearby lake. However, when the plant underwent the renewal of their water discharge permit, they faced new, tighter discharge limits. The new permit limitations required significant [...]
Tim Walz, Minnesota State’s Governor, recently toured a Kurita America municipal installation at the City of Bemidji Drinking Water Treatment Plant. The project was among those funded by a recently passed $1.9 billion state bonding bill. Tonka Water, a Kurita Brand , provided five (5) 11’- 6” diameter vertical pressure filters for iron and manganese removal, as well as a PLC [...]
Phosphorus has long been recognized as the controlling factor in plant and algae growth for many lakes and streams. A minor increase in phosphorous can fuel substantial increases in both aquatic plant and algae growth which can have severe impacts on a community. Phosphorous can originate from municipal and industrial facilities that discharge water as well as runoff from agricultural areas that makes its way into [...]