Water usage is emerging as the next big environmental concern both in terms of fresh water available for an ever-growing demand, and the transportation and infrastructure energy costs of water distribution, treatment and management.

In addition, the 2009 version of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED green building certification program includes a prerequisite minimum 20% water use reduction compared to baseline. As we’ve discussed before on this site, the 20% reduction isn’t quite as easy as it used to be either, with the baseline commercial lavatory faucet flow being decreased to 0.5 gpm.

The Aquanomix team, out of Davidson, NC, has combined decades of industry experience as water management consultants, and are ready to help. The company’s involvement with rainwater harvesting began through their staff’s HVAC water expertise on cooling towers, steam boilers, closed loop systems, and process water to loyal clientele across the country.

One of the largest HVAC water consumers around is the cooling tower, which cools water through evaporation. Cooling tower water is most often made up for from potable municipal sources. Though, despite increased water usage, cooling towers are an energy-efficient and cost-effective method for heat rejection, and typically include very long equipment lifetimes. The downside is that proper water treatment is also required, to ensure optimal heat transfer, minimize biological growth, scale and corrosion.

Utilization of rainwater, graywater or condensate (the byproduct of cooling or heating processes) in cooling towers is still in its infancy in a way, since these water sources have different chemical make-ups than municipal water. So this requires separate water treatment programs for each makeup water source, and the water treatment for graywater or rainwater systems must act in real-time to modulate treatment depending on the chemical composition of the water.

Aquanomix’s AX-CTI Water Management Center is proven, state-of-the-art system for rainwater, graywater, and condensate reclamation. It is programmable to be adapted for most non-potable water applications (cooling tower makeup, irrigation, toilet flushing, etc), but can be tailored to a specific design, and includes an automated control system with Siemens Insight software to ensure water quality remains consistent. This software tracks water quality and quantity, in real-time, and provides supporting trend analysis for measurement and verification, includes a local user interface and BACnet integration capability.

With the AX-CTI Water Management Center, users will enjoy lower water and sewer bills for their building and facility operations. The Aquanomix team conducts a project assessment with the client, and provides ROI calculations based on project parameters. Savings may include lower water/sewer bills; lower construction and maintenance costs for stormwater management practices; and local tax credits or financial incentives for installation and use of a water reclamation system.

The AX-CTI is a complete packaged ‘plug and play’ system, mounted on a skid, that includes a separator, media filter, UV or Ozone disinfection unit, controls, and sensors. In addition, Aquanomix also offers design support for cistern selection and placement as well. The system operates as follows:

1. The control panel records water quality, and automatically activates to adjust and quantity to stabilize the water as required.

2. A cistern pump (by others) is controlled by the AX Water Management Center, and will provide a water flow at the designated pressure and flow rate.

3. The water passes through a particle separator, where centrifugal force separates large solids from the water. Solids are automatically purged to the sanitary drain via a control valve.

4. Water enters a filter housing that removes remaining particles (oil and particulate) five microns or larger.

5. The water is then sent through an ultraviolet (or ozone) disinfection system.

6. Upon exiting, the water passes through a 3-way valve. During no-flow conditions, the water is circulated back to the cistern. During periods of demand, the water is routed through a water meter and on to a cooling tower make-up water system; irrigation system; toilet system; or other non-potable application.

**Note that this isn’t a total chemical treatment system, and that other components must be provided by others as well to further refine water quality for their intended purpose, at point of use.

 

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