Water Maze ALPHA-1500, Operator'S Manual

Page: 13 / 40

ALPHA SERIES
OPERATOR’S MANUAL
13
ALpha 1500-3100 • #8.913-964.0 • REV. 5/11b
CHEMICAL MAINTENANCE
PROGRAM
Owner Chemical Maintenance Program to
Maintain Water Quality:
Daily monitoring and adjustment of WATER MAZE water
chemistry is essential. If not monitored and controlled,
the recycled water becomes chemically unbalanced,
resulting in a host of problems such as algae and bac-
teria growth, obnoxious odors, iron discoloration and
ultimately is unfit for reuse or sewer discharge.
The daily monitoring and adjustment maintenance
program, if followed, will provide suitable water. The
proper maintenance of the water is not complicated and
depends upon a few basic principles:
1. PHYSICAL - effective filtration and recirculation
of the water
Effective recirculation of the water through the collection
pit, and the Alpha system is achieved only if the system
is utilized often (daily 6-8 hours or more) or if the system
is set to recirculate the water throughout the total system.
WATER MAZE has provided controls and procedures to
achieve continuous effective water recirculation through-
out the process. The Alpha, when operated properly,
achieves effective filtration and recirculation.
2. CHEMICAL - proper adjustment of alkalinity and
pH
The most important factor to control and maintain is the
pH of the water (i.e. the acidity or alkalinity). If the water
is acidic (low pH) it will dissolve iron into solution. The
presence of iron of more than 0.2 ppm will result in rusty
staining of virtually anything the water comes in contact
with. Alkaline water can cause cloudiness and greatly
reduces the effectiveness of chlorination. Many clean-
ing detergents are alkaline and will make the water too
alkaline. The proper pH range to maintain is 6.8 - 7.2.
Alkalinity refers to the soluble salts in the water. These
include bicarbonates, carbonates, hydroxides and other
alkali compounds. The water's total alkalinity controls
its resistance (buffering ability) to large fluctuations in
pH levels.
Another factor which should be monitored for proper
water chemistry balancing is calcium hardness. The
presence of too much calcium can lead to the formula-
tion of scale.
3. BIOLOGICAL - adequate disinfection, bacteria,
and odor control
Chlorination and ozonization are used to control bacte-
ria, and odor formation. For chlorine to be effective, it
must be available as free chlorine. If the proper pH and
alkalinity is not maintained, or if the water contains dirt
particles, the chlorine will be combined chlorine and not
be effective in the control of algae and bacteria growth.
Combined chlorine has only 1/15th the strength of free
chlorine.
Inadequate or improper addition of chlorine could result
in bacteria growth. Once bacterial growth starts, the
system must be shock treated. It is best to minimize the
chances of bacteria problems.
The killing of bacteria by chlorine exists in two phases:
1. The penetration of the active germicidal principal
(hypochlorous acid) into the bacterial cell and
2. The chemical combination of this ingredient with the
protoplasm (the complex composition which forms
the essential part of plant and animal cells). This
combination is directly responsible for the death of
the organism.
The activity of this germicidal effect is reduced in alka-
line solutions (those with a pH greater than 7.5) and
expressed as follows:
pH % of Effectiveness
4.0 100.0
5.0 99.6
6.0 95.8
7.0 69.7
8.0 18.7
9.0 2.2
10.0 0.2
Hypochlorite when added to solutions with a pH lower
than 6.0 can produce oxide which is toxic. In vehicle
washing, almost all cleaning compounds are alkaline
in nature. Hypochlorite will still control bacterial growth
and thus smell at higher alkaline ranges, but as the table
indicates, its effectiveness is reduced.
To compensate for this inhibited activity, a larger quantity
of hypochlorite is used. This controls bacterial growth,
but also increases operational costs.
Typical hypochlorite has a pH of approximately 11.6.
This high pH increases the pH of holding tank water,
making pH adjustment more difficult.
Trichloro-S-Triazine Trione is a chlorine compound
which has a pH of 3.0 and when added to holding tanks
aids in the reduction of tank pH levels.
Unlike hypochlorite, which is usually 15 percent chlorine
and will produce sodium or calcium salts in holding tanks,
these new products are 99 percent chlorine which means
that if a solid “puck” of chlorine is used, the total effec-
tiveness of the puck is superior to that of hypochlorite
and no negative by-products are produced.