Addressing Common Challenges in Water Filtration Plant Management

Introduction

Water filtration plants are tremendously helping in supplying a healthy and hygienic water for consumption. These facilities are tasked with the duties to pump raw water sources, filter out all contaminants from water and make sure that water meets water standards. However, managing water filtration plants is not an easy task that comes without some challenges as we are going to see below. Everything from the upkeep of old structures to meeting ever higher demands in legislation, plant managers face a plethora of challenges to keep the plants running to their optimum. This article would discuss some of these issues which affect water filtration plant and get to know on how these hurdles can be overcome so as to ensure the continuation of the supply of clean water (WHO, 2018).

Infrastructure Maintenance and Upgrades

Another important issue that affects water filtration plant is the issue of infrastructure particularly in fixing and modifying structures. Most of the plants are working with some of the oldest machinery and technologies hence, making their filtration process be very inefficient. However, due to negligence, the structures fail to receive the necessary attention this leads to the following: Further, they may not be prepared to provide adequate water to the ever expanding population and expanding urbanization.

In order to counter this challenge, the right course of action is to ensure that the software is maintained regularly and it is updated at the right time. The plant managers must ensure that they have proper schedules for Inspection and testing and also where necessary carry out repairs. Other efficiency and costs of operation can also be improved by implementing new and modern filtration systems (EPA, 2020).

 Water Source Contamination

These water sources which include river water, lake water, and ground water are easily polluted by industrial effluents, agricultural drainages and other pollutants found within urban centers. There exist pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, bacteria, and viruses which threatens the quality of the water and people’s welfare. One of the major concerns of a filtration plant is how to control the removal process of these contaminants from the water.

 In order to control contamination in water sources it is important to adopt several solutions. First, the managers of the plants are required to make sure they have evaluated the water source so that they can tell which contaminants are present and in what amounts. This information will serve in choosing the right filtration procedures like the activated carbon filters, membrane filtration, or chemical any required treatments. Further, activities that might lead to contamination can be controlled through early interventions like establishing no-go zones around water (AWWA, 2018).

Regulatory Compliance

Water filtration plants are always required to meet some regulatory requirements with regard to water production for human consumption. Although fresh water resources are still available there are challenges in meeting local, national and international requirements on water quality standards. Some of the legislation includes the Safe Drinking Water Act in the United States or the Drinking Water Directive of the European Union where legal limits exist regarding the allowed levels of contaminants and protocols for measuring and disclosing the quality of water.

 The best way of meeting the regulatory requirement is by having adequate knowledge of the legal requirements. Plant managers are required to keep abreast with changes in the existing regulations and effect the required changes to the existing filtration systems. This may require acquiring complex water testing tools for example or improving the filtration systems to be in compliance with tighter contaminant standards. Record keeping is also very vital because records of water quality tests, operations and maintenance and other key activities must be availed during audits (Montgomery, 2019).

Energy Efficiency and Cost Management

 Another important factor taken into consideration is energy usage because pumping, chemical applications and water purification as well as water disinfection calls for energy consumption. Due to its detrimental impacts on plant budget and annals operation, high energy cost is a major problem. Further, awareness about the environment is enhancing pressure upon plants to put into practice ecofriendly policies in addition to cutting down their emissions.

 One of the strategies that should be adopted in addressing this challenge therefore is efficient usage of energy. Energy audits can then be performed at the plant level by plant managers to determine areas that can be used to conserve energy for instance through improving on the performance of the pumps, replacing equipment’s with more efficient types or even installing automation systems within plants that can adjust operations in line with the demand rate. Thus, the use of renewable energy resources, including solar or wind power, can also allow the company to minimize its dependence on the standard energy grids and, at the same time, decrease operational expenses (Global., 2019).

Skilled Workforce Management

 It is very important to have experienced a capable employees when it comes to the management of a water filtration plant. However, recruitment and employee acquisition of quality staff are some of the issues that may come up from time to time. Opting in for the best of water treatment solutions, the water treatment plant operators should be aware with the latest known water filtration techniques, rules and regulations, and ways in which the plant and its equipment should be maintained.

Thus, the problems of workforce will lead plant managers to focus on training and career advancement. It means the provision of continuous professional development and certification courses may assist the workers to be updated on the current standards. Other general practice may also address the problem of personnel shortages, cross-training employee in other areas of plant operation can also offer flexibility in staffing ((NRC, 2020).

Automation and Technological Integration

Technological developments may be useful in enhancing the effectiveness of water filtration plant by reducing their dependence on human labor. Such systems can observe the general condition of water, control the settings without interrupts, and identify failures in the equipment before affecting the system. However, as shown with the Peach Bottom example, there remains the problem of ‘bolt on’ aged technologies to new plant infrastructure. There is a fact that many plants still use outdated systems which cause problems with automation technologies.

In order to implement the changes for automation, therefore, plant managers must first analyze their present systems so that they can see how it is that automation will be of most use. It is, therefore, possible to undertake automation in phases in order to minimize on the risk of disruption and also enable the operators to acquire adequate understanding on the new technology. Also, the selection of cost-effective and modular automations guarantees that the system will expand along with the plant’s growth (Gray, 2018).

Public Perception and Communication

The importance of treating water from water point sources can hardly be overemphasized and yet the average consumer takes it for granted without having the faintest idea of what goes into producing that water. The members have stated that the general public has a perception of water quality and their support to the plant and trust they have in the facility. Contamination events or disruption, for instance, water interruptions, can easily diminish the perceived credibility and start a reaction from both ethical and actual clients, as well as regulators.

Since the public requires constant briefing about the state of operation of the water filtration plants, there is a need to ensure that they are acquainted with the ability of the filtration plants to carry out their duties respectively. Plant managers must ensure that the general public is informed of the filtration process, the forces that plant managers have to battle and measures put in place to ensure that water is safe for use. Information release on more frequent Water Quality Report together with upgrade of infrastructure and reported status of compliance with laws can boost transparency (Hach, 2019).

Climate Change and Water Availability

One of the emerging issues for water filtration plants is an adverse effect of climate change. Impact upon vegetation, population distribution, occurrence of droughts and staleness, fluctuation in the climate levels of precipitation and temperature may all alter the access and quality of water supply. For example, decreased amount of water can cause limitations in the plant’s capacity to provide the demand; large quantity of runoff during rainy season floods water sources with more impurities thus increasing the effort needed to filter water.

 Due to the effects of climate changes, effective changes in water filtration plants must be applied. This may entail the decentralization of water supply; for instance, by including other types of water that include desalinated or recycled water. Some measures that can be taken to deal with the effects of scarcity of water include putting in place water conservation measures within the plant and among the consumers.

Financial Constraints and Budgeting

Another problem that plant operators often meet is the problem of managing the financial aspects of a water filtration plant. Often, the availability of a limited amount of money may hinder an organization’s capacity to fund new technology acquisitions, renewal of its physical plant and human capital education. Also, some unforeseeable factors like increase in energy expenses, and sudden repairs or breakdowns may exert some pressure on plant’s budget (Smith, 2020).

 It is important to make effective ends meet especially through proper budgeting and financial planning to counter these challenges. Managers should focus more on such costs that are likely to yield the most benefits for the plant such as energy efficient technology and preventive maintenance costs. Another factor could be the possibilities to gain governmental subsidies, cooperation or private funding that could also bring some relief concerning the developing demands.

Conclusion

The management of water filtration plant is a challenging one because it involves addressing many issues including structural to human resource, legal, communication issues among others. Despite such challenges, plant managers can be able to overcome them through active measures such as: maintaining their plants, embracing new technology, and improving their workforce. Due to the increased need for clean water and the constantly changing composition of materials present in a water body, water filtration plants must also advance further in order to meet the requirements that have to be provided to various communities (Adeel, 2018).

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