Process water balance, ZLD monitoring and power quality for manufacturing plants
A process water balance accounts for every litre a plant draws, uses, reuses and discharges, so supply equals use plus loss. Aqueduct runs that balance live from source to ZLD, tracks RO recovery, evaporator and reuse loops, and applies the same lens to electricity: power factor, maximum demand and feeder losses, so penalties and losses are found before the bill arrives.
Where process water and power go unmanaged
ZLD that is hard to prove
The plant runs reuse and evaporation, but cannot show from measurements that nothing leaves the site.
RO recovery drifting
Membranes foul, recovery drops and reject volume rises, adding load to the evaporator downstream.
Penalties found on the bill
A low power factor or a demand peak is discovered when the utility charges for it.
Cooling towers unmeasured
Make-up and blowdown are not metered, so cycles of concentration are a guess.
Power factor and maximum demand, tracked per feeder
| Measure | Why it costs money | What Aqueduct does |
|---|---|---|
| Power factor | Low power factor raises apparent power, loads the infrastructure and can bring a reactive penalty on the bill | Tracks PF per feeder and flags capacitor banks or loads pulling it down |
| Maximum demand | A short peak can set the billed demand for the month or push the plant past its contract demand | Shows the loads behind each peak and recommends sequencing |
| Feeder loading | Overloaded or lightly loaded transformers and feeders waste capacity and energy | Shows loading against rated kVA, block by block |
| Distribution losses | Losses between the incomer and the loads sit in nobody's budget | Estimates transformer and system losses end to end |
What the numbers say.
of water use that cannot be accounted for is a sign a facility may have leaks.
Source: EPA WaterSense at WorkSources1 references cited on this page
Related
Common questions
A process water balance is an account of every source of water a plant draws against every use, reuse, discharge and loss. When metered sources do not equal metered uses, the gap is unaccounted loss. Aqueduct runs the balance live on the water digital twin, updated every 60 seconds.
Yes. Aqueduct reads feed, permeate and reject flow and TDS in and out for each RO unit, calculates recovery continuously and flags drift that points to membrane fouling or scaling.
Maximum demand is the highest power drawn over a billing interval, and it often sets part of the bill. Aqueduct shows which loads coincide at each peak and recommends sequencing. Where control is enabled, with owner approval, loads can be scheduled to stay under a target.
By metering every stream into and out of the ZLD train: RO feed, permeate and reject, evaporator feed and condensate, and any discharge point. When measured inputs balance against measured reuse and evaporation, the zero discharge claim rests on data rather than on design. See ZLD.
See Aqueduct on your own facility.
Bring a site, a utility bill or a question. We will show you where the loss is.