How the Tideflex Mixing System Keeps Potable Water Tanks Clean and Compliant

The Tideflex Mixing System (TMS) by Red Valve offers a simple yet highly effective solution for improving water quality in potable water storage tanks. Unlike mechanical mixers that require electricity and regular maintenance, the TMS uses the natural energy of a tank’s fill and draw cycles to keep water thoroughly mixed, making it a passive system that requires virtually no upkeep.

Thousands of installations—from small 2,000-gallon tanks to massive 20-million-gallon reservoirs—prove how well this system works across all types of tanks, including standpipes, elevated tanks, and irregularly shaped reservoirs. Water utilities and engineers trust the TMS because it addresses common problems like thermal stratification, dead zones, and short-circuiting that often occur in storage tanks.

Here’s how it works: The TMS design includes Tideflex® inlet nozzles and Waterflex® outlet valves that create strong, controlled flow paths inside the tank. These nozzles and valves are NSF 61 certified for drinking water safety. Separating the inlet and outlet through a single manifold pipe ensures that fresh water moves throughout the entire tank, not just part of it. This movement blends water completely, preventing pockets of stagnation and maintaining consistent water quality.

Tideflex engineers customize each system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and scale models. They also perform a Mixing Analysis to determine, based on real-world usage, how much tank turnover is needed to achieve complete mixing. For existing tanks, they can reverse engineer the system to match how the tank is currently operated, ensuring performance even in retrofits.

This level of engineering attention matters because improper mixing can lead to serious water quality issues. The TMS helps prevent the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs), reduces the risk of nitrification in chloraminated systems, maintains disinfectant residuals, stabilizes pH and dissolved oxygen levels, and even reduces the chance of ice formation in cold climates.

The need for reliable water quality management grows as regulations like the Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproduct Rule evolve. The Tideflex Mixing System meets this need without adding complexity or long-term maintenance costs. And because it’s been validated through modeling and utility operators sampling real-world water parameters—such as temperature, residual chlorine, pH, and bacterial counts—its effectiveness is more than just theoretical.

Whether in a new tank or an aging one already in service, the TMS installs easily and lasts for decades. The Tideflex Mixing System delivers a straightforward, proven answer in a world where consistent water quality is non-negotiable.

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The TriGas X5000 Integrated Gas Detection Solution

Methane, hydrogen, sulfide, ammonia, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, chlorine, ozone, and other poisonous and explosive gases are produced and used in wastewater and potable water treatment facilities. Furthermore, the increased concentration of toxic chemicals and less oxygen in enclosed spaces make these environments particularly risky for employees.

NFPA 820 specifies rules for protecting wastewater treatment plants and their associated collecting systems against fire and explosive risks. New installations, extensions, and upgrades to existing facilities are all subject to the regulations. Owners utilize the requirements in a risk assessment to determine whether portions of a treatment plant are in danger of fire or other loss. Many sites require combustible gas detection, mainly for methane (CH4). Monitoring hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and oxygen (O2) is also common. The installation of a methane gas detecting station near the roof of a structure is typical. Oxygen and hydrogen sulfide detection stations offer safety in the breathing zone for personnel protection. NFPA 820 mandates alarm signaling for flammable gas detectors and ventilation.

These municipal water and wastewater customers’ monitoring safety challenges are addressed with technology from MSA.

The MSA TriGas X5000 Monitoring System is an integrated gas detection solution that assists plant operators in meeting NFPA 820 requirements. The system monitors combustible gases, hydrogen sulfide, and oxygen levels, with onboard alarming and a communication interface to plant and remote control stations. 

The MSA TriGas X5000 Monitoring System assists you in complying with:

• NFPA 820: Standard for Fire Protection in Wastewater Treatment and Collection Facilities
• NFPA 497: Recommended Practice for the Classification of Flammable Liquids, Gases, or Vapors and of Hazardous (Classified) Locations for Electrical Installations in Chemical Process Areas 
• NFPA 70®: National Electric Code® when standard practice dictates separation of electronics from sources of gas leaks. 

The TriGas X5000 Monitoring System is specifically designed for optimum performance in high-moisture environments and typically monitors for oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, and combustible gases (methane or petroleum vapors). This sampling system can also be outfitted with the necessary options to meet the wastewater industry's NFPA 820 section 1.8 standards.

The TriGas X5000 Monitoring System builds on the successful Ultima X TriGas design. The system includes combustibles, H2S and O2 gas monitors, sample pump and end-line filter, power supply, and alarming system with buzzer and strobe light.

TriGas X5000 Components:

• Ultima X5000 sensors for O2, H2S and IR LEL combustible gas
• Designed for high-moisture environments
• NEMA 4X Stainless Steel or Fiberglass Enclosure
• SM5000 Sample Pump
• Red Strobe
• Buzzer
• Hydrophobic End-of-Line Filter
• Inlet/Outlet Flashback Arrestors

Get more information about the TriGas X5000 from this page on the Process Technology website.

Process Technology, Inc.

801-264-1114

https://process-tech.com

Process Technology, Inc. Combines Partner Technology and Delivers Innovative Industrial Effluent Wastewater Measurement Solution

Due to the regulatory nature, readings are taken multiple times a day manually, and constant alarms require a technician's attention. Questionable flow data and an ultrasonic level sensor that would not read below 3 GPM did not collect accurate or consistent flow data over the flume. pH buffers and calibrations were up to date, but due to the device's questionable age and occasional data dropout, it did not meet the regulatory requirements.

This application aims to regulate pH and flow and improve wastewater monitoring data collection's accuracy and efficiency, stay in compliance and ensure instrument reliability with a cost-efficient solution, reducing downtime.

The Mettler Toledo M300 with an iSense 3250i pH probe provides the most reliable and accurate pH capabilities in the industry, along with added digital monitoring. Calibrations are done on the bench in a controlled environment. The sensor will tell the transmitter the approximate life of the sensor, reducing system downtime.

The Siemens LU 240 for ultrasonic level (over existing flume) calculates flow and is a very cost-effective way to gather accurate levels. A single device with a local display and a 4-20mA output covers all communication bases and accuracy requirements.

A Red Lion 10” Graphite HMI consolidates data gathering and calculates flow using the existing cellular, returning data to the control room. Data is logged in the HMI via SD Card, so if there is an interruption in the system control room, no data is lost.

PTI's industrial water and wastewater customers’ monitoring challenges are addressed by combining the technology from (3) leading instrument and technology manufacturers.

Siemens, Mettler-Toledo, and Red Lion devices are compatible with providing a cost-effective and accurate automated flow monitoring solution, mitigating the risk involved with regulatory applications.

DOWNLOAD A HARD COPY OF THIS CASE STUDY HERE

Contact Process Technology, Inc. for more information. Call them at 801-264-1114 or visit their website at https://process-tech.com.

COVID-19 Testing in School and University Wastewater Systems

Community spread of COVID-19 is challenging to control because symptoms can take up to two weeks to appear after contracting the virus. Making this even more challenging is the fact that many cases remain asymptomatic. As a complement to existing testing processes, communities, including universities, are searching for a more proactive approach to identifying early infection trends.

One of the most exciting advances in Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is the recently demonstrated ability to identify and measure COVID-19 genetic material in untreated wastewater reliably. SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes Covid-19 and is known to invade the gastrointestinal tract and is extracted in human sold waste.

The broad descriptions for various testing methodologies used to measure municipal water quality are "wastewater testing" or "wastewater quality indicators." These testing methods analyze wastewater's physical, chemical, and biological characteristics and now include testing for SARS-CoV-2. By sampling and testing wastewater samples, COVID-19 outbreaks are predictable well in advance.

To arrest Coronavirus's spread on campuses, schools and universities are turning to wastewater testing as a possible method for identifying and predicting outbreaks of Covid-19 in their facilities. Evidence is still preliminary, but it appears promising that this approach can allow schools to detect potential flareups weeks earlier than conventional population monitoring. Schools using wastewater-based epidemiology detection methods find COVID-19 more efficiently and less invasively compared to blanket individual student testing. The knowledge of increasing COVID-19 genetic material in untreated wastewater by schools and universities allows more precise deployment of mitigation initiatives and response plans, such as testing individuals, contact tracing, and quarantine.

HACH, a world-leader in water quality instrumentation and analysis, provides portable samplers that help researchers identify hot spots. The portable analyzer takes daily samples to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2, assisting researchers in predicting COVID-19 outbreaks.

To learn more about testing wastewater for COVID-19, contact Process Technologies, Inc. Call them at 801-264-1114 or visit their website at https://process-tech.com.

Pretreatment Sewage Testing and Monitoring Gaining Favor as Coronavirus Outbreak Predictor

Wastewater testing, or “wastewater quality indicators” are broad descriptions for the various test methodologies to measure water quality.  These tests analyze the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of wastewater.

As countries and individual healthcare organizations work to arrest the spread of Covid-19 and to care for those who are infected, officials in some geographic locations are using wastewater testing as a possible method for identifying levels of Covid-19 in their communities.  The testing goal is to detect evidence of the Covid-19 genetic material, ribonucleic acid (RNA), in fecal matter in sewage and wastewater.

The novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, is the virus that causes Covid-19. It is known to invade the GI (gastrointestinal) track in some patients, and so the virus is extracted in their fecal matter. 

Looking at the amount of viral matter in waste water from a community could uncover the level of Covid-19 spread in the population.  This information can then be a trigger for the required mitigation initiatives and response plans, such as testing individuals, contract tracking, and quarantine. It also allows for information to be gathered on a cross section of the population, allowing for a way to monitor public health solutions for large groups. 

Scientists from around the world are setting up pilot programs to test waste water.  The Netherlands has successfully performed a Covid-19 test for waste water and additional programs are launching in Singapore, Zurich, Lausanne,  Milan, Rome, Australia, and in parts of the US, such as Colorado, Ohio, New York, and Wyoming.  Scientists in these regions have been able to identify the novel Coronavirus at low concentrations in waste water, pointing to an early warning systems for communities.  

In April, 2020, the scientific journal, Nature, listed that over a dozen groups around the globe were doing research analyzing waste water for Covid-19, and that evidence of the virus was already found in the United States, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Figure 1

Sampling and analysis of pretreatment sewage is key. The results of this analytical testing reveal the characteristics and presence of the Coronavirus in parts per million quantities, and can be laid against the population numbers of a geographic area to ascertain the existence and amount of virus existing in the wastewater.  An example of this kind of data dump is illustrated in Figure 1 (courtesy of the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority and Biobot Analytics).

A valuable tool in pre-treated water analysis are Automatic Samplers. These devices automate the collection of sewage samples and prepare them for further analysis to ascertain the existence and amount of virus in the wastewater sample. 

For more information about automatic samplers contact Process Technology. Call them at 801-264-1114 or visit their website at https://process-tech.com.

Red Valve Pinch Valves & Check Valves: Solving the Toughest Flow Applications

Red Valve is the largest manufacturer and supplier of pinch and check valves, and is the preferred supplier for municipalities and industrial plants worldwide. Red Valve products manage the toughest flow applications in:

• Wastewater Treatment Plants - Sludge Handling, Grit Removal, Raw Sewage, Lime, Carbon Slurry
• Power Plants - FGD Systems, Scrubber Systems, Coal Handling
• Mining -  Tailings, Flotation Control, Thickener Underflow Lines, Numerous Other Slurry Applications
• Chemical Processes - Corrosive and Abrasive Materials, Powders, Pellets

For more information about Red Valve in Colorado, Eastern Wyoming, and Montana contact:

Process Technologies, Inc.
801-264-1114
https://process-tech.com