by Brianna Crandall — March 27, 2015—Global technology provider Siemens and Silver Bullet Water Treatment Co. have entered into an agreement that will help broaden Siemens’ offerings of non-hazardous chemical water-treatment solutions. Specifically, customers will be able to lease the EPA-proven technology to treat cooling tower water onsite.
Accounting for up to half of the average building’s water use, cooling towers are found in office buildings, hotels, data centers, and factories, explains Siemens. They provide cooled water for air-conditioning, manufacturing, and electric power generation.
Siemens recently ran several tests at three of its customers’ facilities to quantify the cooling tower water treatment claims made by Silver Bullet and to complement the existing tests already performed by the company. The results were said to be “outstanding,” and the system to be an important component of maintaining the entire HVAC systems within their facilities.
The “green” Silver Bullet technology helps kill harmful bacteria, remove scale, and control corrosion. It also significantly reduces water, electricity, and chemical use, lowers operating costs, and can help commercial and industrial buildings earn LEED credits under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program as well as municipal and tax rebates, points out Siemens.
In traditional systems, various chemicals such as chlorine are added to water to control bacterial growth, calcium build-up, and corrosion. Transporting, handling and storing these chemicals could be hazardous to the environment and to workers, notes Siemens. Alternatively, the Silver Bullet process uses a very strong and effective disinfection method recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), called “advanced oxidation process,” or AOP.
Silver Bullet’s patented AOP technology generates highly reactive hydroxyl and oxygen-free radicals, which oxidize contaminants in the water and kill bacteria. Other remaining oxygen atoms keep minerals such as calcium in solution, which prevents scaling. For calcium adhered to walls and surfaces, the reactive oxygen atoms break down the build-up so the calcium chips away and remains suspended in the water.
With its small footprint, the Silver Bullet system is reportedly scalable to any tower size. It can be installed in less than a day, with no interruptions in electric or heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) service, and there are no upfront capital costs because the systems are leased within a service contract, explains Siemens.
