
Fourth, chlorine dioxide (ClO2) systems are widely used in building services for hot- and cold-water circuits for hospitals, health centres, spas and other applications that require disinfection. Grundfos develops and manufactures water disinfection and dosing pump solutions for all types of commercial buildings. We are experts in water disinfection, anti-scaling, -fouling and -corrosion for domestic water systems, air-conditioning systems, boiler and heating systems. We use the term ‘SMART’ when referring to our dosing range, which is short for: high-accuracy, reliable and safe dosing pumping.
Our SMART digital pumps use advanced stepper motor technology; they control flow measurement while also being user-friendly. Chemical dosing poses many challenges, but the SMART digital range has been designed to solve these challenges in order to reach performance targets. Our SMART solutions provide maximum uptime with minimal operating costs. Equally important is the range’s safe operation, a vital consideration when dealing with hazardous chemicals. Looking at rainwater harvesting, how effective have you found it to be for extending clients’ water supply and what factors or internal differentiators optimise the process? KZ: The main challenge with rainwater in our country is the fact that it’s seasonal. During dry seasons, rainwater collection is minimal, posing an enormous problem when it comes to collecting and storing rainwater throughout the year. It’s still a viable option and definitely results in savings, but unfortunately we in South Africa will never be able to use rainwater as our only source of water supply. That’s why process optimisation is key to successful rainwater harvesting. Installing pumps with variable-speed drive technology, i-solutions or solar functionality can significantly reduce energy consumption used on dual- or multisource systems. Additionally, control and monitoring helps with process optimisation, saving on chemicals and the various treatment options that make the water supply from such systems compliant with the relevant legal specifications. You also provide general water treatment solutions. What technologies do you supply and why are these recommended? KZ: Mainly, Grundfos supplies products that complement our customers’ water treatment solutions (pumps, dosing, disinfection, control and monitoring devices). Our solutions are suitable for conventional water treatment and ultrafiltration, such as lower-pressure centrifugal pumps, for example, and reverse osmosis and desalination, which require high- pressure centrifugal multistage pumps as well. Depending on water quality, we can accommodate high-salinity water (corrosive water) using different materials. Monitoring, control and dosing products help our customers to achieve accuracy in chemical dosing. Our SMART digital dosing pumps are now available on a large scale, and we are launching the SMART XL dosing pump (up to 200 ℓ/h) in May 2017. Our control and monitoring device (DID), which can measure up to three different water parameters on a single controller, can be fitted with different sensors depending on process and customer requirements. Parameters might include free and total chlorine, conductivity, pH, ClO2, oxidation reduction potential, hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid). One of the most important processes for potable water is disinfection. Without efficient water disinfection in commercial hot water systems, cooling towers, spas and swimming pools, Legionella and other dangerous bacteria can lead to fatalities or extreme illness. Grundfos uses a number of different chemicals in its disinfection systems, including chlorine gas, chlorine dioxide and sodium hypochlorite. The correct chemical to use is determined by various factors, such as: water quality, size of installation, logistics for chemical delivery and, of course, capital and operation funds availability.