Zeta Rod Blog

US Army Corps of Engineers Publishes Report on Cooling Tower Water Conservation Using Zeta Rod

The US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research & Development Center (USACE-ERDC) has been evaluating the Zeta Rod for over four years at four different military bases. 

The main purpose of the evaluation was to be able to determine whether the Zeta Rod could help reduce the amount of water used by evaporative cooling systems in order to meet the water conservation requirements set by Executive Order 13423 while maintaing proper levels of protection against scaling, corrosion and biofouling. 

The first phase to the project was done at Davis Monthan AFB and Fort Huachuca in AZ. The full report has been published by the USACE. 

The results encouraged the USACE to expand the project and include two more bases: Warner Robins AFB in Georgia, and Ft Irwin in California. These two bases were selected given the quality of their water. W-Robins water is extremely soft and corrosive by nature whereas Ft. Irwin's water is extremely hard and with a very high potential for scaling. Davis Monthan and Ft Huachuca's water fall in between these two and remained as part of the project.

The 2-year second phase is scheduled to end in August of 2011 and a final report will be available by December 2011 or January 2012. 

In the meantime, the USACE-ERDC has already been publishing the results from this project. In their website they have published a paper titled: "Electronic treatment reduces water, chemical use in evaporative cooling systems." 

The USACE-ERDC also gave a presentation in the 2011 USACE Infrastructure Systems Conference in Atlanta, GA. Download Non-Chemical Treatment of Cooling Water - Beitelman .

For more information on how can the Zeta Rod help meet water conservation targets in Federal Buildings or help with LEED credits, contact Zeta Corporation at (888) 785-9660.

 

 

US Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research & Development Center Reports 20% Water Savings in Cooling Towers with Zeta Rod

From July 2007 to September 2008 the US Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)conducted an independent and thorough comparative study between the Zeta Rod and a conventional chemical water treatment program for cooling towers. Two sites were chosen for the study, Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson, and Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, AZ.

The study looked at corrosion, scale and biofouling control as the parameters to be used as the metric to evaluate both programs, however, the ERDC had a special interest in water saving capabilities in order to meet requirements set by Executive Order 13423 regarding water conservation. 

This study was also the launching platform for the Zeta Water Management System, which allows remote control, data logging and monitoring of a cooling tower.

The Abstract of the report reads:

 The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has a specific legislative mandate to increase its conservation of water and energy. It also is interested in improving the effectiveness of open-loop, cooling water treatment processes at its installations worldwide, for purposes of extending the useful life of evaporative cooling equipment and reducing energy use/costs. A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was approved to demonstrate that, without using chemical additives, a capacitor-based water treatment system is capable of (1)providing equivalent protection to a chemical treatment program in preventing scale, corrosion, and bio-fouling; (2) allowing cooling systems to be operated in an enhanced water conservation mode; (3) delivering measurable reductions in water usage over conventional methods; and (4)providing control, monitoring, and wireless data transfer via the Internet.

Results documented in the subsequent demonstration and evaluation project showed the technology was able to meet every objective and also was able to deliver a 20% reduction in cooling water use over standard chemical treatment methods.

Application of this technology would allow the DoD to (1) reduce chemical usage, exposure, and disposal expenses; (2) conserve water and energy; (3) facilitate water re-use; and (4) meet new goals for conservation of resources.

The complete report can be read and downloaded by going to the following link.