The Challenge
An Ontario manufacturing plant was experiencing persistent permeate quality issues with their single pass reverse osmosis (RO) system due to fluctuating city-feed water conditions. The RO permeate conductivity was consistently failing to meet the plant’s strict product water requirements despite exceeding 95% rejection from the RO unit. The issue led to an increased spend on emergency mobile water services for over a year, which increased plant operating expenses dramatically and caused headaches for the local site personnel.
Our Solution
The manufacturing plant reached out to HPWS to evaluate their challenges and provide a solution. After analyzing feed conditions, HPWS determined there was no way a single-pass RO could meet permeate specifications consistently with the varying feed conditions. HPWS recommended converting the existing single-pass RO into a two-pass RO.
HPWS was engaged to provide this solution and successfully converted the existing single-pass RO into a 2-pass RO to enable the plant to consistently achieve permeate quality. HPWS’ solution included a new Suez Proflex LT8 RO, a break tank, a chemical injection system to condition the second RO for maximum efficiency, and a Grundfos distribution pump. All of this equipment was added before the existing RO system. The new system is now covered under a preventative maintenance agreement with HPWS, and the customer is confident that their equipment will perform consistently without any unplanned downtime. They also now have a long-term service partner with HPWS servicing the equipment and providing technical assistance as required.