january 2012 Vol 12 | No 1

phcnews.com

p 38

MECHANICAL CONTRACTING

An MCAA IndustryForecast

p 57

PLUMBINGSmart Pumps

p 44

HYDRONICS

Boiler & Water HeaterReport

p 70

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New technologysolves age-oldwater problems atFort Sill, Oklahoma.

Holdingdown thefort

Built during the Indian Wars ofthe 1870s, Fort Sill served asthe base of operations against

Cheyenne, Comanche and KiowaIndians. After decades of warringwith “native hostiles,” it was there,on February 17, 1909, thatGeronimo, the great Apache chief,died of pneumonia. Today, Fort Sill isnot only a National HistoricLandmark but also one of the U.S.Army’s largest bases. In the 1970s, initial entry training

(IET) “starship barracks” wereconstructed on Army basesnationwide, including Fort Sill. Thefacilities acquired the nicknamebecause they’re completely self-

contained, with living quarters,classrooms, mess halls and latrines allunder one, star-shaped roof.Many of the starship barracks —

designed to house up to 500 troops— are being renovated, chiefly toreduce energy consumption. Ft. Sillhas already renovated one starshipand is now preparing to modernizefour more. Hard water has plagued

maintenance crews at Ft. Sill sincethe addition of indoor plumbing, andthe problem remains today.Unfortunately, southern Oklahomahas some of the most challengingwater quality nationwide. With allnew mechanical and plumbing

systems being installed duringrenovations, the Army Corps ofEngineers has moved to eliminatedomestic water scale problemsbefore they begin.

Impressive demandWith 500 troops mobilizing, high-

quantity water use is inevitable. AtFort Sill, dealing with persistent scale

is a costly problem to solvecompounded by the inevitable spikesin water use. At the start of each newday, soldiers have a set routine. Wakeup (still a cheerfully, piped-in, high-decibel reveille at “O-dark-hundred”)leads to a quick shuffle to theshowers, where a combined 632 gpmsurge through the spacious gangshowers.A daunting challenge for the

mechanical contractor is how toprovide scale protection fordomestic water systems at a rate of632 gallons per minute with awater quality defined as “veryhard.” At 10 grains of hardness pergallon, water is considered hardand, over time, calcium andbicarbonate scale become aproblem for system components.The water at Ft. Sill measures a

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New technology solvesage-old problems at Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Hard-waterproblems since 1869

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OneFlow tanks appear to be standing at attention, shoulder to shoulder, waiting forinstructions from their drill sergeant, when, in fact, these tanks are protecting thedomestic water system in the army training barracks at Fort Sill.

The system changes thephysical characteristics of thewater with little or no changeto the solution’s chemicalcomposition.

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whopping 27 grains per gallon. “One plan was to use a commercial,

salt-based water softener,” said O.G.

Mills, VP of Tulsa-based, Okla., sales.“But the four tanks needed wouldn’tfit through the mechanical roomdoor and, once inside, would’vetaken up far too much space. On topof that, the sheer amount of salt usedto regenerate the water softenerswould have required additionalstorage, constant attention from aservice tech and an expense to treatall the water that would have madeit nearly cost prohibitive.”

Physical water treatmentMills continued, “The Army Corps

of Engineers started doing theirhomework, researching differentmeans of scale removal.” What theyalready knew was that the systemmust handle a huge volume whilebeing cost effective. Mills added,“There was the need for tolerance tohuge pressure drops as well. And,according to the Buy American Act,

the equipment would need to beAmerican-made.”With those mission parameters,

and after a careful study of theiroptions, the Army Corps ofEngineers chose Watts’ OneFlow®

anti-scale central treatment system.This uses TAC (template-assistedcrystallization) technology. TAC fallsinto a category of water treatmentoften referred to asphysical water treatment(PWT). The primary goalsof PWT are to eliminatethe use of chemicaladditives, reduce oreliminate discharge andwastewater and createzero pollution, whileminimizing installationand maintenance costs. The environmentally

friendly technology behindleading TAC treatmentsystems was developed inGermany about 15 yearsago. It was used

throughout Europe for several yearsbefore coming to the U.S. andcontinues to be the dominant formof commercial water treatment there.TAC media starts out as polymericbeads (resin) in the 20- to 40- meshsize range. Catalytically active sitesor templates are “imprinted” orcoated on the bead surface through abatch-coating process. The system changes the physical

characteristics of the water with littleor no change to the solution’schemical composition. PWT ischiefly used to reduce the negativeeffects of water hardness (calciumcarbonate) in plumbing systems,appliances and equipment, valvesand other components. The templateinfluences the water solution atlocalized sites (on the media surface),such that hardness ions and theircounter-ions (bicarbonate) combineto form inert nanometer-size “seedcrystals.” Called nucleation, thisoccurs when dissolved molecules orions dispersed throughout a solutionstart to gather to create clusters inthe sub-micron size range. The seeds provide an enormous

area for preferential growth ofremaining hardness ions still insolution. “Low energy heterogeneous

Four- and eight-inch Watts model 957 RPZ backflowpreventers protect the domestic water system. Strainersinstalled upstream of the RPZs help keep debris from gettinginto the OneFlow system and backflow preventers.

Technician Rob Myers opens the outlet connection to one of 12 tanks installed atFort Sill Army Base Lawton, Okla.

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transfer” then begins. The remainingdissolved ions reach their solubilityshift, attach to the seed crystals andcontinue harmlessly downstream.

Out with the old…“The Army Corps of Engineers in

Lawton wasn’t impressed with theold traditional water softeningsystem or with the service contractattached to it,” said Allen Jones atC.H. Guernsey, lead mechanicalengineer on the project. Themechanical room had been builtaround the existing system. Twotanks, one 10 feet tall and theother five feet in height, were

situated on either side of themixing unit. The tanks weredisassembled and removed.“The Corps did their own research,

looking for a better alternativefinancially, logistically andenvironmentally,” said Jones. “Millswas a bulldog when it came to

explaining how TAC technology isthe winner in all three categories andalso uses less than half the floorspace of any of the alternatives.”

TAC: Unaffected byfluctuating water demandAnother huge advantage the TAC

system has over a traditional watersoftener is the ability to operateeffectively at trickle flow rates,” saidSteve Callahan, national salesmanager of water treatment productsat Watts Water Technologies. “TACmedia is always used in an up-flowdesign, so it’s not subject to low flowchanneling or high flow pressure

drops. With traditional [salt-based]systems, if flow is below peak rate,you can get hard-water bypass. That’swhen water finds the path of leastresistance through the media andcomes in contact with minimalamounts of resin.”According to Callahan, TAC media

isn’t sacrificial; it doesn’t dissolve.Media lifecycle is not influenced bythe amount of water being treated orby the hardness of the water.However, impurities in the water,such as chlorine, over time candegrade the template on the beads,which affects media longevity. Thetypical suggested media change-outis three years.“Selecting the appropriate size

system is simple. All you need toknow is peak flow rate,” saidCallahan. The first phase of the Ft. Sill

restoration project called for 12OneFlow tanks, each capable ofhandling 75 gpm. Linked in parallel,the tanks treat up to 900 gpm. Thissystem also affords the base theflexibility to isolate tanks if the

barracks aren’t at full capacity and toperform media change-outs one tankat a time.Four and eight-inch Watts model

957 RPZ backflow preventersprotect the domestic water system.Strainers installed upstream of theRPZs help keep debris from gettinginto the OneFlow system andbackflow preventers. “For the Army Corps of Engineers

to review and ultimately select TACtechnology over a traditional softener,it meant that we had to meet a verystrict performance standard toprotect their plumbing systems. Wehave thousands of installations, some

in areas where water is even harderthan at Ft. Sill, so I was certain ourtechnology was best suited for wateruse at Fort Sill,” he added. “They’llreap the benefits of zero waterdischarge and no salt expense foryears to come.” ;

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Technician Rob Myers checks the inlet feed connection while putting a tank intoservice. It's one of 12 OneFlow tanks plumbed in parallel to provide scaleprotection to the Starship Barracks at Fort Sill. Archer Western Contractors providesbuilding and facility maintenance to various government properties. At right, Myersadjusts a pipe hanger on the installation.

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“For the Army Corps ofEngineers...we had tomeet a very strictperformance standardto protect theirplumbing systems.”