Water Engineered for Production, Product Quality and Plant Reliability

Water can be an ingredient, rinse medium, cleaning utility, boiler feed, cooling medium or process aid within food and beverage manufacturing.

Its quality can affect product consistency, equipment life, cleaning performance and production efficiency.

Hydra-Clear designs and manufactures water treatment systems around the actual manufacturing process rather than applying one generic treatment standard to every application.

Ingredient & Product Water

Where water becomes part of the final product, consistency matters.

Variation in hardness, alkalinity, dissolved salts and other characteristics can influence:

• Taste
• Product formulation
• Appearance
• Production repeatability
• Equipment performance

Treatment can include:

• Filtration
• Activated carbon
• Softening
• Reverse osmosis
• UV treatment
• Fine filtration
• Mineral adjustment
• Controlled blending

The treatment process is designed around the incoming water and required final specification.

Reverse Osmosis

RO can provide consistent low mineral water for applications including:

• Beverage manufacture
• Ingredient water
• Dilution
• Product formulation
• Rinse water
• CIP make-up
• Boiler make-up

Systems can incorporate hygienic instrumentation, stainless steel pipework, automated flushing and Siemens PLC/HMI control.

Water Softening

Hardness can create scale throughout a food manufacturing facility.

Softening can protect:

• Boilers
• Heat exchangers
• Hot water systems
• Washers
• CIP systems
• RO membranes
• Process equipment

Softener sizing is based on both peak flow and the total hardness load presented to the resin.

Boiler Water

Steam is heavily used throughout food and beverage manufacturing.

Correct boiler make-up treatment can help reduce:

• Scale
• Boiler blowdown
• Chemical demand
• Energy loss
• Maintenance

Where justified by the water chemistry and boiler operating conditions, RO treatment can substantially reduce the dissolved mineral loading entering the boiler system.

Cleaning & CIP Water

Cleaning performance is affected by water chemistry.

Hardness and dissolved minerals can interfere with cleaning chemicals, cause deposition and leave residues on equipment.

Treatment for CIP supply may therefore improve both cleaning consistency and equipment condition.

The required quality depends on the process and cleaning regime.

Hygienic Design

Food and beverage systems can be supplied with appropriate:

• Stainless steel process pipework
• Hygienic valves
• Hygienic instrumentation
• Compatible elastomers
• Cleanable equipment layouts
• UV systems
• Storage and distribution
• Sampling facilities

The exact construction standard is agreed against the application.

Water Recovery & Reuse

Manufacturing sites can consume significant quantities of water.

Potential recovery streams can include:

• RO concentrate
• Final rinse water
• Condensate
• Cooling water
• Selected process discharges

Not every water stream should be reused.

We assess the chemistry, contamination risk, required reuse quality, treatment cost and operating risk before recommending recovery.

Production Resilience

Where water treatment is production critical, systems can incorporate:

• Duplex treatment
• Duty/standby pumps
• Buffer storage
• Automatic changeover
• Redundant filtration
• Remote alarms
• Critical spare strategies

The treatment plant should reflect the production consequence of failure.

Talk to a Food & Beverage Water Engineer

Send Hydra-Clear your incoming water analysis, required product water quality, peak flow and daily demand.

We can develop the appropriate process from there.

Consistent products need consistent water.

Call 0800 999 6770 or contact Hydra-Clear to discuss your food and beverage water system.