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Study Shows AquaAnalytics Is Good For The Planet

Greening Health Care has published a research guide, “Best Practices for Energy Efficient Boiler Plant Design, Operation and Control”, that is worth the read for all sectors.

This Best Practices Guide is intended to guide facility managers, their engineers, service contractors, operators and controls companies, in making their boiler plant performance and gas use efficiency the best they can be for both the planet and their bottom line.

At AquaAnalytics we share a similar methodology with Greening Health Care – you can’t manage what you don’t measure and therefore a data-driven approach is the key to sustainability.

15 participating Canadian hospitals provided utility data and technical input on their existing systems and operations. From this rich body of data, Enerlife Consulting was able to benchmark and extract best design, operational and control practices that can be shared and applied across all boiler plants. The Greening Health Care program applied a “data-driven, performance-based conservation methodology to understand the energy profile of each facility and identify implementation measures and set priorities for action…leading to significant energy, utility cost and emissions savings.”

*source: Greening Health Care website

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There are several recommendations with respect to Water Treatment in this guide. We would like to highlight two of them specifically.

Percent In Control

Once Water Treatment control limits are set by a qualified professional, the guide acknowledges that a key metric is ‘Percent In Control’ – the ratio of number of times the parameter(s) are within control limits to total number of readings taken.

The guide recommends that the ‘Percent In Control’ metric should be kept above 80% at all times for ideal plant operation. The guide also points out that the “statistical validity and effectiveness of this measurement increases with frequency of testing/reporting, with electronic logs or online continuous monitoring providing the highest confidence.”

Facilities serviced by AquaAnalytics consistently achieve above 80% In Control due to our AquaAnalytics data management software and 3-tiered quality control process.

Tier 1: On a monthly basis, a AquaAnalytics Water and Energy Manager visits your site to compare current water conditions to established control limits. Throughout the month, operator logs and/or Datalogic controller real-time monitoring, also report water conditions to AquaAnalytics – increasing our confidence level. Your AquaAnalytics representative is trained and equipped to diagnose and make adjustments to your program, and will revisit as needed to confirm that program adjustments are successful.

Tier 2: Our AquaAnalytics software uses proprietary IF/THEN algorithms to identify and flag recurring deviations from established control limits based on severity and frequency of these deviations, which we call “Exceptions”. On average, approximately 2% of all data points collected during our service visit will generate an exception each month. A generated exception will initiate revisits for further corrective action.

Tier 3: We don’t stop there, a third tier review audits the effectiveness of the AquaAnalytics Service Quality Process. Unresolved or recurring exceptions become “Escalations”. On average, approximately 0.1% of all data points collected will generate an escalation each month. At this point, upper management is notified, and your AquaAnalytics service group will work with you to develop further action plans.

This escalation based on water quality trends using engineered logic is the part that no one else does. Our quality control process is proven to drive the ‘Percent In Control’ metric up and consistently maintain it above the recommended 80% threshold.

Through your secure AquaAnalytics portal, you and your team have full access to calculated KPI’s such as water usage trends, chemical consumption, protection ratios, and “In Control” percentages.

Online Operator Logbook

AquaAnalytics offers an online operator logbook as well. Operators log data using our fully mobile device compatible AquaAnalytics application. Your Representative receives automated notifications when data has not been entered or if the entered data is out of range. This strengthens our partnership with operators even when we’re not physically on-site and provides higher confidence in the ‘Percent In Control’ metric.

Conclusion

We share a similar methodology with Greening Health Care – you can’t manage what you don’t measure and therefore a data-driven approach is the key to sustainability.

Our technical representatives are proactive leaders in pursuing the least-cost operating scenario for your heating and cooling systems, and therefore helping to reduce water and energy and helping the environment. Minimizing water and energy while reducing your reliance on chemical consumption is of critical importance to us. Our vision is to continuously improve the success of more and more customers, by helping them reduce operating costs through implementation of advanced & proven water technologies.

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Financial support for this Greening Health Care applied research project was provided by; Enbridge, Union Gas, AquaAnalytics, Thermogenics, and Yorkland Controls