Wastewater treatment facilities depend on their equipment running smoothly and efficiently. This is important not only for minimizing disruptions but also for protecting the environment and human health. It’s inevitable that equipment is going to break down from time to time, however adhering to a regular maintenance schedule can reduce the need for repairs and the associated downtime.
Let’s take a closer look at what wastewater treatment facilities need to know about today’s best practices for maintenance and upkeep, and how to optimize a regular maintenance plan to keep operations running smoothly.
The Importance of Regular Maintenance for Wastewater Treatment Equipment
Wastewater treatment is a vitally important industry. Treatment centers play a key role in managing waste from various sources, from industrial and municipal, to residential. Each wastewater treatment facility, no matter how big or small, serves a vital function in its community.
The role the wastewater treatment plants fill requires them to take steps to ensure their operations are running efficiently and properly maintained. Doing this offers several important benefits.
Compliance with Local Regulations: Wastewater treatment facilities are required to meet environmental standards set by local governments and regulatory bodies. Investing in regular maintenance is the surest way to avoid fines or legal consequences by ensuring these standards are met.
Reduction in Downtime: Scheduling regular maintenance is crucial to spotting potential issues early on. Scheduled maintenance helps minimize extensive downtown during repairs and ensures operations are running smoothly and uninterrupted.
Focus on Efficiency: Well-maintained wastewater treatment equipment continually operates at maximum efficiency. This reduces the burden of energy consumption used in the water treatment process and produces the most consistently reliable results for water quality.
Extended Lifespan of Wastewater Equipment: Replacing wastewater treatment equipment is expensive and leads to lengthy downtime that can present challenges to water treatment processes. Preventative maintenance helps to protect all system components, extending the overall lifespan of the equipment.
Environmental Considerations of Regularly Wastewater Treatment Maintenance
Yes, regular maintenance is essential for optimizing production and efficiency and reducing repair costs. Still, we don’t want to ignore the environmental benefits of proper maintenance.
Properly maintained wastewater treatment systems ensure that treated wastewater meets current environmental standards. This includes preventing pollution of local natural water sources and protecting local wildlife. Properly functioning equipment also reduces overall water and energy usage.
Preventative Maintenance Strategies for Wastewater Treatment Facilities
Wastewater treatment facilities can take a proactive approach to maintenance. By adding a few proactive maintenance steps to regular operations, wastewater treatment staff can help reduce the risk of equipment failure while extending the life of wastewater treatment equipment.
Set a Maintenance Schedule
A regular maintenance schedule for all equipment should be followed. The schedule should be based on manufacturer recommendations, but it’s also important to consider operational conditions. A wastewater treatment center that is experiencing higher than typical processing will want to increase the frequency of regular maintenance checks.
Regularly Monitor Wastewater System Performance
Systems should be monitored daily for key performance parameters. Daily monitoring should include flow rates, pressure, and chemical levels as applicable.
Provide Training to All Staff
Managers of wastewater treatment facilities should ensure all staff is trained on maintenance protocol and how each system operates. They should be able to identify and troubleshoot issues with the equipment they work with. All staff should be invited to a training session each time there are updates or new technologies implemented in the wastewater treatment system.
Maintenance Challenges and How to Overcome Them
In the best of times, all wastewater treatment runs smoothly and efficiently without issue. However, even with a proactive approach there are challenges that exist. Here are a few of the most common maintenance challenges wastewater treatment centers face.
Inconsistency with Recordkeeping: Proactive and regular maintenance are key to keeping systems operating at optimal capacity. It’s also equally important that all maintenance activities are documented. Failure to properly document leads to staff resources being used inefficiently by repeating tasks, or missing tasks and inspections completely. Digital tracking systems are an effective way of eliminating this challenge and providing a clear record of maintenance for all equipment.
Budget: Smaller wastewater treatment facilities can face the challenge of budget constraints limiting their ability to perform regular maintenance tasks. Putting off even small maintenance tasks significantly increases the risk of costly system failures later down the road. The long-term cost savings make regular maintenance something that should be factored into the budget, regardless of how large or small.
Absence of Maintenance Inventory: Wastewater treatment facilities should keep at least a baseline inventory of replacement parts for critical components. Without this backup inventory delays in repairs can happen, increasing the risk of system failure. Keep essential spare parts, such as seals, filters, and gaskets on hand to minimize lengthier downtimes while waiting for parts to arrive.
Factoring In the Environment: Even when facilities follow suggested maintenance schedules it might not be enough. Harsh operating environments, which include exposure to extreme weather conditions, the use of corrosive chemicals, or exposure to abrasive materials can accelerate normal wear and tear on equipment. Facilities that operate under more extreme conditions adjust their maintenance schedule to reflect these challenges.
Advanced Maintenance Innovations
Today, we’re seeing the use of advanced technologies improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment maintenance.
Predictive maintenance is one example that uses sensor data and analytics to provide anticipated timelines for when equipment will require maintenance. There are also remote monitoring systems that provide real-time analysis of system performance. This is especially beneficial for facilities that experience challenges in adhering to maintenance schedules.
Developing a Maintenance Checklist
One way for wastewater treatment facilities to ensure that preventative maintenance tasks are completed is by creating a maintenance checklist. Checklists will vary depending on the facility’s needs, but a general template will look something like this:
Daily Tasks: Check general performance metrics, including pressure and flow rate. Inspect key components such as pumps, blowers, and tanks for any obvious issues.
Weekly Tasks: Actions like cleaning filters and screens should take place at least weekly. Add additional tasks such as removing sludge from tanks.
Monthly Tasks: Conduct a more in-depth analysis of equipment health and performance. Test backup systems and ensure emergency generators are in working order. Sensors should also be assessed and calibrated monthly. This is also a good time to ensure that all current staff have been properly trained on maintenance procedures.
Quarterly Tasks: Gaskets and seals should be checked quarterly and replaced if any signs of wear are showing. Add checking system piping to the quarterly tasks list, including scheduling any professional maintenance appointments for tasks that can’t be handled by in-house staff. Check inventory to ensure adequate backup components.
Annual Tasks: At least once a year, perform a comprehensive assessment of equipment performance. Assess whether any equipment is showing significant signs of wear or performing less than efficiency. All maintenance schedules should be updated annually, as well as updating all team members on any changes.
Conclusion
Proper maintenance of wastewater treatment equipment is a critical component for efficient operations and regulatory compliance for treatment centers. Knowing how to properly maintain equipment, setting a comprehensive maintenance schedule, and taking advantage of the many advanced tools available are all keys to ensuring optimal performance.
Proper maintenance is critically important, and Lakeside Equipment is happy to assist in choosing the best equipment for wastewater treatment and answering questions about maintenance and repair. Let us be your trusted partner in effective, premium water treatment equipment and solutions.
