Before the Snow Flies...

As we transition from Summer into Fall, those facility management teams who use their steam boilers for heating find this a particularly challenging time of the year to maintain proper chemical levels in their boilers. Some days are rainy and cool, then we get an occasional warm spell going from needing to not needing that heat. Similarly we may have cool mornings - requiring heat, and sunny afternoons with no additional heat demand.

The challenge is to keep enough oxygen scavenger in the boiler feedwater as well as in the boilers. Failure to maintain proper chemical levels can lead to costly failures - in the boiler feedwater tank and piping, in the boiler tubes, and in the steam and condensate piping system.

To prevent these failures we strongly encourage you to feed more oxygen scavenger than typically necessary. A common chemical used for this purpose is sulfite (SO₃). Normal maintenance levels are 20-40 ppm of sulfite. During the fall months, you may need to maintain sulfite levels at 80-100 ppm to ensure that there is enough sulfite in the system to prevent oxygen pitting.

The reason for this recommendation is as follows: as the boiler and boiler feedwater cool down when not in use, a partial vacuum can develop in the feedwater tank, drawing air into the feedwater. Similarly this can occur out at condensate receivers throughout the facility. This oxygen becomes very corrosive when heated.

In fact, for every 30^o F increase above 70^o F, that oxygen doubles in its corrosiveness.

True, this process will cost a little more than normal. Also true is that it will add TDS (frequently referred to as conductivity) to the boiler, but these issues are minimal compared to the costs and downtime for pipe and tube replacements.

Posted on behalf of Fred Lattin

Water Prices Go Up, Up, Up

Engineering firm Black & Veatch and Raftelis Financial Consultants provided data for a study of retail water rates released in September 2012 by USA Today.  The research covered 100 municipalities across the US.  The findings won’t surprise you:  rates have increased 70% and more over the past 12 years.  In 25% of the cities, rates doubled; in San Francisco, Atlanta and Wilmington, Delaware they tripled.

 

Fitch Ratings’ water utilities analysts expect water rates to continue growing at 5% per year due to our aging infrastructure and the capital costs required to maintain and upgrade it.  Expect water to take an increasingly larger portion of your budget each year as cost increases outstrip inflation.

Water for heating – and especially cooling – accounts for 15% to 30% of a building’s overall water consumption.  An effective water treatment regimen for this equipment is the most effective means to reduce that use.  The US Green Building Council’s LEED for Existing Buildings recognizes this by offering a credit for utilizing chemical water treatment in cooling towers.  Contact us here at APTech Group for hands-on help from our field and factory water treatment experts to keep your enterprise ahead of the ever-steeper water cost curve.  For starters, you can download a useful tip sheet at by clicking here .

Posted on behalf Lew Bonadies, LEED AP, Sustainability Director, APTech Group

“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”

On September 25, 2012 we lost one of our greatest of American heroes of all time. Neil Armstrong was a jet fighter pilot who narrowly escaped death on one of his 78 combat missions in Korea; a test pilot who piloted the X-15, an experimental rocket plane; and the Apollo 11 commander who guided the lunar module Eagle past boulders and craters before landing on the moon with only 20 seconds of fuel to spare.

He was born in Ohio, went to school in Indiana, taught at University of Cincinnati and lived not too far from our manufacturing plant here in Cincinnati during his final years. We will miss this quiet hero and national icon who was the first person to set foot on the moon.

 Our growth and success at APTech Group is due to all the people who had the vision to be first to market with sustainable solid water treatment chemistry. A recent manifestation of that success: APTech Group has earned a ranking on the 2012 Inc. Magazine 500/5000 list for the second consecutive year. The Inc. 500|5000 ranks the top private companies in the U.S. in terms of three year revenue growth.

On the Inc. list, among ranking companies in the manufacturing sector, APTech Group ranked 8th in the state of Ohio and 2nd in the greater Cincinnati area. Not only have APTech Group solid water treatment chemicals helped to open lots of doors for our distributors, they also have been a great tool to retain business for these water treatment professionals. The facilities who use our products have reduced their carbon footprint, reduced the risk and liability to employees and made their systems easier to operate and maintain. They do not want to go back to the old, dangerous liquid way.

APTech Group solid water treatment chemicals are the right stuff to protect your people, your planet and your profits. Click here for more information about how our products can work for your firm.

Posted on behalf of Marc Beller

Back to School

Across the country, back packs, school supplies and school clothes have been purchased in preparation for the big day. Since we have “children” who are now young adults, my wife and I were spared the trauma of sending the kiddies off for the first day of school. But I know there are many parents who were wiping tears away this week as they watched their youngsters climb aboard that big yellow school bus.

This time of year is exciting for students embarking on a new year of learning and growth. For school administrators and faculty, it’s the end of the summer vacation (or second job…) and for school facility managers, it is a stressful time of ensuring that everything at the school is in working order.

Given the “precious cargo” that is attending our nations’ schools, it is not surprising that more and more K-12 school facility managers are embracing a new safer method for maintaining their comfort cooling and heating equipment. 

EnduroSolv® solid chemical water treatment from APTech Group provides all the system protection of traditional (but dangerous) liquid chemicals. But without the added caustic that allows the ingredients in liquid chemicals to remain in solution, solid products from APTech Group are safer to ship, store and use on site.

Additionally, the use of EnduroSolv® solids is a more sustainable water treatment solution. In fact, if all liquid water treatment was replaced with EnduroSolv® solid products from APTech Group the carbon footprint effect would be the equivalent of removing 52,000 automobiles each year from U.S. roadways.

So here’s to a new school year filled with learning and growth for the students and to safer, sustainable maintenance of the equipment that keeps them comfortable throughout the school year.

For more information on EnduroSolv® solid water treatment products, check out www.endurosolv.com.

Our Beautiful Earth

This week in history: 53 years ago on August 7^th, 1959, the first photograph of the earth from a U.S. satellite was taken (see image at right). Although grainy and somewhat indecipherable by today’s standards, you still get a feel for the complexity, massiveness and beauty of the planet we call home.

Fast forward to today’s images from space and Earth’s beauty really begins to show – the bright white clouds against the deep blue sea, the intricate designs of the different land masses, and the light of the sun all can be seen in the pictures from today.  Getting a clearer picture of something tends to bring the obvious to light.

What about in your mechanical room? Do you have a clear picture of what you can do here to make it safer, cleaner and more sustainable? The EnduroSolv line of solid water treatment products can provide that clear picture. Take a look at the EnduroSolv benefits here: http://endurosolv.com/why_solids and what is so obvious begins to come to light.

Posted on behalf of Kathleen Collier

Making a Difference with Your Career

There’s something special about believing in what you do every day. 

In a previous life, I was a union auto worker.  I spent seven years as a cog in the production lines of a “Big Three” automotive manufacturing plant.  It was a good enough job.  We were well compensated, and the job was not overly difficult.  At the end of the day, I clocked out and didn’t think about the job until the start of my next shift.  I thought I’d spend 30 to 40 years of my life in that routine.  Everything was fine.  Unfortunately, my bubble of contentment finally burst when vehicle sales slowed, and the overtime dwindled.  I realized that I was there for the pay check and not much else.  Suddenly, 30 to 40 years of the same old routine didn’t seem so appealing. 

Five years ago, I made the decision to leave the relatively safe haven of the UAW and look for something new.  I had no idea what it was, but I believed in the existence of a better alternative.  Almost immediately, I was able to begin my employment with APTech Group. (Commercial break – APTech is leading manufacturer of solid form water treatment chemicals used to treat the water in cooling towers and boilers. Check us out at www.endurosolv.com.)

Initially, I was a part-time employee while I took classes.  For the first year, it wasn’t much different than my previous jobs.  Then I started to pay attention to what was happening here.  The more I learned, the more I wanted to be a part of this organization.  Oddly, the job wasn’t that much different than the one I had left.  It was still manufacturing.  However, the message was different.  

Producing components of a vehicle that I could see on the street was good and I still remain loyal to that brand.  Manufacturing a quality product like EnduroSolv® solid water treatment chemicals that is more environmentally responsible than the dangerous liquid alternatives is even better.  It has also made for a more interesting and fulfilling career path.

When it comes to your water treatment solutions, don’t settle for just good enough; give us a chance to be better. Like I was able to do with my career.

Posted on behalf of Andy Kinnett

Buildings Drink Deeply

According to the US Green Building Council (USGBC), commercial buildings use 13.6% of our nation’s potable water, about 15 trillion gallons per year.  Saving water has become a priority and will graduate to a necessity in the next decade.

Boilers and cooling towers are big building water users and good targets for conservation strategies, starting with professional water analysis and treatment.  Heating and cooling water reduction is a double bonus, because not only is water saved, but the energy to heat, cool and pump it, too.  In fact, the USGBC’s LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings provides a credit for implementing chemical water treatment for cooling towers.

More ambitious owners and facility management professionals are taking it a step further, utilizing non-potable water sources, like condensate and roof runoff rainwater, as makeup water.  Properly treated, both are excellent substitutes for municipal or well water.  Added infrastructure costs are a factor, but the investment can have a reasonable payback, especially when the rising cost of water and sewage is projected out over five plus years.

Check your local building codes for compliance, but more and more communities – and not just in southwest states – are encouraging rainwater harvesting and other non-potable water strategies.  Your APTech Group distributor’s water experts and our factory resources are at your service, too.  Start evaluating conservation strategies today before water issues escalate.

Posted on behalf Lew Bonadies, LEED AP, Sustainability Director, APTech Group