Bob’s Idea Corner ~ Entry 1.0

I am an idea guy. I first discovered this through the Clifton Strength Finders exercise about 10 years ago and am continually reminded that not only is this WHO I am but, more importantly, it’s how others see and value me – an idea guy.

Excerpt of Email to Sr Bld Ops Mgr seeking some feedback /ideas for the Health & Safety Committee that he sits on for National Asset /Property Management Function

Johnny…

Here are some thoughts ideas stories in terms of what I can share or expand on.    

First topic is in context of water treatment /conditioning.  

Second topic is about sensors that we’re using for conservation and leak detection of water and some interesting by-products that reduce requirement to climb around on ladders etc. 

I am happy to circle back with you or other members of your health and safety team if there is interest to learn more about either of these areas.

Topic 1 – Cooling Tower / Circulating Water Treatment

There is a conditioning technology that I have had some experience with  – its called Hydropath (the name of the technology) and its sold /distributed under the name HydroFlow. I have a reseller relationship with the Canadian Distributor. The parent url is perhaps the best resource for case studies and background on the solution.      www.hydropath.com

Its been around since 1990’s out of the UK with somewhat slow adoption in North America. It was initially developed to address corrosion and scale build up in hot water tanks.

I have used it with a waste treatment facility where the objective was to lessen the build up of scale /struvite within operating equipment and lessening the amount of polymer that needed to be added to the water and waste mixture. The technology has had significant success in Canada in the waste water treatment space. In this example, the key benefit is lengthening the cycle between shutdown for the equipment while reducing the amount of polymer that is required to the water /waste mix. 

The other sector /vertical where the technology has been more broadly accepted is in the US (where there is more demand for cooling and often harsher / harder water conditions).   The device conditions and treats water without chemicals and impacts the saturation point such that it takes longer for the cooling tower to require a discharge cycle (thus saving water) and also measurably lessens the build up of scale (if /where that’s an issue) which improves the overall performance (by reducing the insulating factor caused by scale) and lessens energy required to heat and/or cool water. The current status quo is to chase pH levels, add corrosive inhibitors and biocides to prevent build up of harmful bacteria.     Where deployed, chemical reliance (cost and usage) drops, maintenance drops and energy efficiency improves (use less water and/or use less energy to heat and cool water).

I have included a link below to the US site which has some great details and explanations of cases /examples on how this conditioning technology can support different conditions / problems.

 In some instances the benefit is using less water.

In some instance the benefit using less chemicals and/or eliminating certain chemicals altogether and/or

Decreasing shut down frequency for cleaning scale /corrosive build-up within heating and cooling equipment and reduced maintenance costs.

In terms of your company’s institutional grade assets, I would suggest it would have applicability in terms of;

1. addressing concerns with standing /stagnant water in COVID dormant buildings.

2. specific jurisdictions where this is hard   / mineral rich water and/or active chemical treatment in place and/or

3. where the properties are in hot / warm climates where the building’s consume a lot of water and have to have an active chemical treatment program for their cooling requirements and where there is a conservation concern about using less water

The technology supports:

1. less maintenance

2. using less water

3. using less chemicals and;

4. using less energy (gas or hydro) to heat and cool water where equipment is running more efficiently

Topic 2 IoT Sensors

This example is best used in a story /case study. We use a series of sensors from Alert Labs (great Canadian company based in Kitchener) and rely upon their Flowie and Floodie sensors primarily. They also have a sump pit monitoring device (Sumpie) that will monitor levels in sump pits or elevator pits and alert where water levels in a pit are rising and/or alert where there has been a power failure to the sump /elevator pit.  

In this example, our Client was looking to implement leak detection sensor for a new sand filter that was installed on 7th floor mechanical where the filter was treating water going to cooling tower on10th floor.

We installed Floodie sensors around perimeter of filter.  Our sensors require a relay device to push the data to the cloud.

Alert Labs – Flowie

In this instance, we installed the relay device on a check meter that was located above suspended ceiling in 10th floor and that was located in tenant space. This check meter was regularly (1x a month) being checked by Ops to read how much water was being used by the Cooling Tower and required  ladder, interrupting tenant and then taking manual read of the check meter. The water use for cooling tower is tracked to calculate an annual rebate offered by the City of Toronto for drift/ evaporation on the tower.

Accessing this water flow and the monthly readings is now down remotely through the Flowie sensor.

These sensors use an algorithm to teach themselves above the water flow and learn what is typical, what is not by volume and time of day. With this insight, they system can then alert Ops personnel, Bld Mgt on issues if / when they arise.

In addition to adding Bld Ops personnel to the alerts, we have recommended that the Mechanical Contractor that supports this client also be added to the loop to shorten communication cycle.

The most recent instance occurred over Jan 4-6th and then again on Jan 15-18th where system detection irregular flow for this cooling tower. Graph below shows the daily consumption spikes over Dec 29th – Jan 23rd window.  The drill down can go deeper to the minute to give even better insight.

In this case, the excess use was related to a float valve issue and the system continually filling and draining, filling and draining. The system, as noted below, captures what is perceived to be a “leak” when it reports continuous flow. In this case (as in most) the leak is water flowing within a system where it can safely drain and/or the tank /vessel that the water is flowing to is set up to manage overfill or run-off situations.

In this same mixed use complex, we are also using the Flowie Sensors to supplement meter reading on tenant check meters as a cross reference against tenant billing /tenant usage and where legacy reading tools are no longer supported or working, adopting the Flowie sensors as a replacement for calculating water usage for tenant re-charge purposes.

We started with wanting to have a flood/ leak detection on a 7th floor sand filter.

• We added check meter monitoring to the cooling tower
• We eliminated the need to read /measure the check meter monthly
• We gained a built in alert system for water consumption /equipment performance issues on the cooling tower
• We added the ability at no extra cost to engage client’s contractor in the notification loop and;
• Adopted the technology to more accurately and safely (no more ladders) remotely read tenant check meters

Lots of good wins from this one example and an area where we are seeing growing interest from people such as yourself.

The one area of strong activity that we’re seeing with this sensor technology is that client’s want help interpreting and monitoring and pointing to desired / required action.

The information and insight is great but can be overwhelming and has little to no value if you don’t know what to do with it.

We offer the IoT sensors on a DIY basis where the client owns and self manages the alerts and data where our role is to sell and install or;

We offer the sensors platform on a subscription basis where we own, maintain, warranty the equipment and support monitoring /  recommendations of alerts and data.

Sample of Data Capture and Usage Alerts

BEFORE: Daily Water Usage Nov 1 – 30 2020
10 Story Mixed Use Office /Retail during COVID

Sensor on check meter to Cooling Tower: Avg 8,900 L /Day

High usages alerts (we’re in Canada in the middle of winter) for Cooling Tower

Yellow and Red are clearly peaks and blue bars are showing relatively low (and expected) consumption levels

I would love your feedback and / or comments about this new habit that I’m undertaking, and hey, if you have water questions I might be able to help with some ideas and insight. Find me here on Linkedin.

This column was originally published on Linkedin, here.