Water is not known as the main final product of industrial units, but this vital element plays a key role in most industrial processes. This makes the water and sewage industry face its own challenges compared to other industries. These challenges are not only limited to managing the quality of water consumed in industrial units, but operators must also feel responsible for the state of wastewater released in the environment. In our country, in order to ensure the supply of clean and quality water for the future generations, the national standard 22315 has been developed to monitor the state of effluent released from industrial units in the environment. According to this standard, all industrial units subject to the requirement to install and set up real-time pollutant monitoring systems must install and set up these systems.
Of course, water and wastewater quality monitoring is not only limited to environmental laws. The very important information of water and wastewater analyzers can be used to improve the production process and increase profitability. Factory operators should continuously improve the production process in order to reduce costs and increase production efficiency by analyzing the data received from the water and wastewater analyzer.
Important parameters in determining water and wastewater quality that must be measured by water and wastewater analyzers include temperature, hardness, turbidity, conductivity, BOD, DO, COD, pH, etc. In the following, we will learn more about each of these parameters.
Usually, online monitoring packages for measuring water and wastewater parameters consist of several probes, each of which is responsible for measuring one parameter. Finally, the information is collected in the transmitter and transferred to the control system or displays. In some cases, where the process conditions are special and it is necessary to prepare before the sample enters the water and wastewater analyzer, these analyzers are designed as extraction panels where the sample is entered with the help of a pump and the measurement is performed.
Determining the pH value is one of the most important and widely used tests in water chemistry. Almost every step of water supply and wastewater treatment, for example acid-base neutralization, water softening, coagulation, disinfection, and corrosion control processes, is pH dependent. Water and wastewater analyzers are very important for measuring pH.
At a certain temperature, the intensity of the acidic or basic property of a solution is indicated by its pH or hydrogen ion activity. Alkalinity and acidity are the acid and base neutralizing capacities of water and are generally expressed as milligrams of calcium carbonate per liter. Buffer capacity is the amount of strong acid or base required to change the pH of a 1-liter sample by 1 unit, usually expressed in moles per liter. But the quantity of pH itself is reported without units and in the range of 0 to 14.
pH measurement electrodes in water and wastewater analyzers are made of different materials such as glass, PTFE, etc. depending on the process conditions.
DO or dissolved oxygen in water is a factor whose presence in water leads to bacterial activities that convert ammonium into nitrate. Accordingly, to control the activity of these bacteria, the level of dissolved oxygen in water must always be monitored and controlled. The water and wastewater analyzer for DO measurement plays an important role in this process.
Also, the amount of dissolved oxygen is very important for the maintenance and breeding of aquatic animals and corrosion studies. Usually, the number of 2 mg/l is recommended for the optimal level of dissolved oxygen in order to balance the processes of determining the water nitrate level.
Optical DO sensors used in water and wastewater analyzers are commonly known as luminescent sensors, although some also operate using fluorescent light. In this method, the fluorescent dye is stimulated by light with a low wavelength inside the measuring membrane, and after passing through the cell containing the sample, it emits light with a longer wavelength, which is measured in the device. The higher the oxygen concentration, the shorter the light scattering time, and as a result, the measurement of this time can be considered as a function of the oxygen concentration and calculate the desired value.
EC or electrical conductivity is another important parameter in water and wastewater condition monitoring, which is measured by water and wastewater analyzers. Electrical conductivity, as the name suggests, indicates the ability of water to transmit electrical current. Since dissolved salts in water make it electrically conductive, the EC analyzer also indicates the amount of ions and the purity of the water. Pure distilled water has low electrical conductivity.
Considering the direct effect of temperature on the conductivity of different solutions, temperature measurement is very important along with water electrical conductivity measurement. As can be seen in the figure below, considering the nature of most instrumentation equipment, measuring this characteristic will not be a difficult task because water conduction can be easily calculated using the induction method with the help of an electric circuit. Electrical Conductivity is reported in ms/cm unit.
Turbidity meters, which are also known as nephelometers due to the standard measurement method, are an important part of water and wastewater analyzers. These devices emit light through a light source and measure the amount of light scattering caused by the presence of particles in the sample. Turbidity is reported based on NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units).
Turbidimeters actually measure the amount of transparency or light passing through water. Because the existence of things like sewage, planktons, etc. will lead to water turbidity. The more cloudy the water, the higher the measured NTU.
Generally, measurement of total suspended solids is done by passing the water sample through a pre-weighed filter. Fine particles are trapped on the filter and then dried, and after reweighing, they affect the weight of the filter, and based on this, the results can be reported in mg/L units.
Of course, despite its simplicity and reasonable price, this method is not approved by the 22315 standard, and as stated in the table at the end of the article, this standard refers to the measurement through the infrared nephelometric method according to the ISO 7027 global standard method. Modern water and wastewater analyzers use this standard method to measure TSS.
Temperature is one of the most common and important quantities that must be measured to control most industrial processes. Water and wastewater analyzers usually also include temperature sensors.
HIWACO company with years of experience through direct communication with the country’s industries is trying to provide the necessary solutions to the industrial plant’s problems in the field water and wastewater treatment. This company provides all the services of supplying, installing and commissioning sensors for measurement of water parameters from the most reliable brands in the world.
Water and wastewater analyzers are devices that are used to measure various parameters such as pH, temperature, hardness, turbidity, etc. in water and wastewater. The importance of these devices in industries is due to the need to control the quality of consumed water as well as the output effluent in order to comply with environmental standards and optimize production processes.
Water and wastewater analyzers can measure important parameters such as temperature, pH, hardness, conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), BOD, COD, turbidity and TSS. These parameters are very critical for monitoring water and wastewater quality and improving industrial processes.
Installation and operation of water and wastewater analyzers includes choosing the appropriate method (immersion or extraction) for installing sensors, connecting sensors to the control system and ensuring the correct operation of the devices. These steps are performed by specialized experts to obtain accurate and reliable data.
Reputable European brands such as HACH and E+H and the Asian brand Supmea are suitable choices for installing water and wastewater analyzers in various industries due to their high quality, measurement accuracy and performance stability. The use of these brands increases the reliability of the obtained data and improves the productivity of industrial processes.
Analyzing data collected by water and wastewater analyzers can help plant operators identify areas for improving production processes and reducing costs. This information is also very useful for preventing environmental problems and increasing production efficiency.
Hiwa Tajhiz Iranian Co. is a leading company in the field of instrumentation, control and measuring equipment in Iran with the aim of equipping various industries of the country with the most up-to-date devices of international reputable manufacturers, and relies on the technical knowledge of local specialists for all installation services. HIWACO provides all installation, repairs and maintenance services of the mentioned equipment.
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