| Before governments began monitoring wastewater | | | | "In addition to the extreme black water on install, it |
| discharges and long before it was popular to be | | | | was determined that fusaria and nematode |
| "green" in your process, a Swedish company named | | | | infestations to the cooling trough water existed as |
| Wirsbo partnered with a Minnesota based water | | | | loading dock doors allowed these common spores to |
| treatment company to solve both a process | | | | enter the open trough water on each robotic |
| wastewater problem and develop a system to reuse | | | | process line." |
| the process water. | | | | Wirsbo implemented programmable controllers and an |
| Wirsbo, founded in 1694 in Sweden is most famous | | | | ionization test on every shift to prevent recurrence |
| for its world leading in floor radiant heat tubing. | | | | of the microbes. |
| Wirsbo manufactures its tubing through a robotic | | | | Glass media was implemented in 2006 at flow rates |
| extrusion process, cooling the tubing in water troughs | | | | of 60 GPM to 400 GPM to further lower microns of |
| fed 24/7 by the robots. Because of the high | | | | filtration and maintenance cost. Filtration has evolved |
| temperature, and the open air trough, the cooling | | | | from bag to DE, DE to Zeolite, Zeolite to Glass over |
| water in the trough was black and oily, with a burning | | | | the 13 year site history, with Glass media extending |
| odor. The trough itself had string algae 1-2" thick on | | | | both media life and reducing backwash by 50%. The |
| the sides. Minnesota Water Treatment arrived with | | | | glass media is used in Pentair TA 60, TA 100 and TR |
| ionization and oxygenation technology in 1996 to | | | | 140 low pressure, high flow rate sand filters with high |
| design and develop a chemical free system. | | | | flow rate valves. Two years without re-bedding is |
| Wirsbo has a 50 year warranty on their tubing, the | | | | now historical. |
| use of chlorine or other chemicals degrade the life of | | | | The use of ASAHI differential pressure valves has |
| their product. Tests after cooling, in chemically | | | | allowed a headered bank of filters to automatically |
| treated water were employed and were the same. | | | | shift filters for backwashing at the convenience of |
| Chemicals were not an option! | | | | on-site personnel. Previous bag filter systems did not |
| Minnesota Water Treatment not only solved the | | | | permit the recirculation and rinse of the water and |
| "black water" cooling trough issue, a recirculation | | | | would shut down flow in the troughs requiring |
| strategy was ultimately developed allowing water to | | | | cleaning or change out to continue manufacturing |
| recirculate through 60 ton EVAPCO cooling towers | | | | tubing. |
| and chiller bundles in later years. | | | | |