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Case Study – Salt Creek Technologies and AquaMetrix AM-2300

Salt Creek Technologies is more than your typical distributor of equipment for industrial wastewater treatment. Way more. The company brings engineering expertise from inside and outside to design cost-effective wastewater systems for their customers. When Plochman’s Mustard, a 150-year-old mustard manufacturer, wanted to implement a biological treatment train, David Fields, principal of Salt Creek, convinced the manufacturer to adopt a dissolved air flotation (DAF) system. The result was a 70% lower cost of sewer discharge fees.

Figure 1 – Typical DAF system made by Salt Creek.

Salt Creek specializes in updating legacy systems that date as far back as the 1960’s, enabling state-of-the-art performance at minimal cost to the customer. One such example is the retrofitting of a DAF wastewater system at another 150-year-old manufacturer of food ingredients, including frozen pizza, salad dressings, sauces and mayonnaise—all products with plentiful fats, oils, and grease (FOG). David wanted to upgrade the DAF system from a constant coagulant feed to feed that is proportional to the flow of wastewater. The goal was to minimize the usage and cost of chemicals.

Coupling the dispensation of chemical feed to wastewater flow can be done via a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) but programming the PLC requires software knowledge that must be done by an expensive software engineer. David wanted a solution where anyone in a facility can adjust the feed rate using the input of a flowmeter.

The AquaMetrix AM-2300 fit that bill. In its most common configuration, it accepts four analog inputs and four pulsed inputs. It also controls processes through four analog outputs and four relays. Web connection allows remote monitoring and email notifications alert users to potential problems. The web-based setup wizard makes it easy and convenient to setup, configure, and calibrate sensors from the convenience of a laptop, tablet, or mobile device. The user-friendly 2300 display can be viewed directly on the unit’s local display or from any internet browser.

Figure 2 – AM-2300 showing web interface and logging 

David states: “As Joe Fields, our principal engineer and I, gained more experience with the AM2300, we decided to create a standard product/system for the industrial wastewater treatment industry. We wanted a package based on the AM2300 that reads flow rate as an analog 4-20 mA signal and outputs a separate 4-20 mA proportional signal to a peristaltic chemical pump—providing the right concentration of treatment based on the flow rate and a user input. The concentration (ppm) at maximum flow would be set by the user adjusting a potentiometer. The actual flow would then be adjusted according to the flow of wastewater.”

Since implementing the retrofit of the system, the cost of chemicals has dropped precipitously, though it’s still too early to quantify the savings. Salt Creek has rolled out the package system to other users. The standard system utilizes 2 or 3 sensor inputs and 2 or 3 outputs. One of the sensors universally used is the AquaMetrix differential pH sensor that outlasts traditional pH sensors by an order of magnitude in wastewater applications. Users have commented on the ease of use of the AM-2300 and have found its datalogging and email notifications very useful.

For more AquaMetrix solutions, please contact AquaMetrix by Water Analytics at +1-978-749-9949 or reach out to our Channel Partners to learn more!