Performing regular waterside inspections of your critical system equipment is an important part of a successful preventative maintenance program. When weather gets colder, many systems may be temporarily shut down, providing the perfect opportunity for waterside inspections.
Visual inspections provide an indication of the health of your system and validate the results of your water treatment program. Catalogue inspection reports to determine if the current condition indicates equipment status is unchanged, improving, or degrading.
Make sure to inform your water treatment representative in advance of the inspection date and time. Your representative will view the results and provide feedback based on current observations compared to previous inspection results. Avoid costly remedial action that can assure your insurance inspector that there is a program in place to remedy issues.
This helpful guide will outline what tools are needed and what you should be looking for to get the most useful information out of your waterside inspections.
For a thorough inspection, view and photograph all available inspection points above and below the water line.
Recommended tools include:
Scale and deposits may appear on any waterside surface but will primarily be located at the heat exchange surfaces with the highest skin temperatures. The most common deposits you will find in a water system are calcium scale and iron scale.
Water treatment products may soften such scales and even cause them to flake off waterside surfaces. It is important to check for evidence of scale deposits being removed or flaking off where debris is likely to collect in the system. This might include within the mud drum, at the base of a boiler pressure vessel, or in the end bells or sump/basin in a cooling system. Track the changes in deposit thickness and area covered across subsequent inspections. This can determine if the deposits are being removed or if new deposits are forming.
KEY INSIGHT: A good trick is to scrape a gouge mark into the scale at an easily accessible location, then check that mark at the next inspection to see if the gouge is still visible.
Pitting will appear as small, localized encrusted areas of corrosion, forming crevice and uneven metal surfaces. Oxygen pitting can appear on any boiler surfaces below the water line. It will likely be the most prevalent at or near the water line in watertube and firetube boilers, or inside coils on coil tube boilers. It is critical to document and track the amount of oxygen pitting on the boiler surfaces year over year. Damage caused by pitting is irreversible and can lead to equipment failure.
Sludge may appear on any waterside surface but will typically be found in the mud drum, at the base of a boiler, or in the tube bundle and on the end bells of a chiller. Sludge will appear as a thick, muddy substance, typically brown in color. Any sludge can be removed or rinsed off while the boiler or chiller are open for inspection.
General corrosion can appear on any of the waterside surfaces below the water line or above the water line where condensation occurs. It will appear as rust formation on metal surfaces. It will be orange to brown in color where surfaces would otherwise be grey to black. In contrast to sludge formation, general corrosion will appear relatively even across all water contact surfaces and will not be able to be rinsed away.
Biofouling will appear as slime or other growth in a variety of colors and appearances. It can have a light to foul biological odor. Take note to remove some of the biofilm and inspect beneath the film. This may show evidence of microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC). It cannot be seen when the biofilm is still on the chiller surfaces. Any biofilm or fouling can be removed physically by brushing, pressure washing, or chemically with dispersant and oxidants.
You will get the most out of the time and money invested in your inspections if you incorporate the following into your operations:
Waterside inspections are an important part of any successful preventative maintenance program. They provide the best opportunity to determine the overall health of your system and validate the results of your water treatment program.
Learn more about waterside inspections and the importance of a quality water treatment system.
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