Much of our water supply system uses above-ground water supply tanks that are vulnerable to a number of environmental threats. One of them is cold weather. While it’s technically possible to put water supply tanks underground to keep it safer, doing so is incredibly expensive and requires massive civil engineering projects, many more pumps, and a lot more energy consumption.
In reality, it’s easier to simply add heat and insulation to vulnerable points in our water supply as needed.
A common point of concern in the system is the riser, a pipe that runs from ground level up to the bottom of the water supply tank. These pipes are small enough that they’re vulnerable to freezing rather quickly. Malcolm Jackson, the Business Development Manager for tank and maintenance supply company Utility Service Co., Inc., explains:
“Many tank risers are wrapped with heat tape, covered with insulation and capped by an aluminum jacket. In addition, a heating system may be installed in an adjacent building or into the valve pit underneath the riser. The heater introduces heated water or steam into the base of the riser. In either case, the heat rises into the tank to [mitigate] freezing.”
This is only one example of preventing water infrastructure from succumbing to the cold, and there are countless other industrial use cases for water temperature control; from food processing to data centers. Whether it’s meant for consumption or for processing, water management is incredibly important.
Common Water Heating Problems
Environmental Factors
Extreme weather conditions increase the freeze threat and can cause temperatures to drop suddenly.
Connectivity Failure
Monitoring and control logic in remote locations can fail if network connectivity issues arise.
High Energy Consumption
Water temperature maintenance uses a lot of energy and can become very expensive.
ControlByWeb™ Solutions
Weather Monitoring
Analog and digital inputs capture weather station data for complete environmental awareness.
Stand-Alone Reliability
Our stand-alone I/O devices keep your processes working even when network connectivity fails.
Efficiency Enablers
Our device’s built-in interface contains custom logic which allows for fine-tuned control to maximize efficiency.