Automotive Part Manufacturing

An automotive supplier located in MI required a new softener system to replace an aging system. The existing softener system was a twin steel tank with 300 cu ft of resin per tank. Upon evaluation of water usage at the facility, it was determined that the softener was significantly oversized. The average flow through the softener was significantly less than the required minimum flow for a softener of that size. Due to improper softener size, the softener was using significantly high volumes of salt and the softener was not consistently producing soft water. American Aqua proposed a quadplex system with the progressive flow. Each softener tank contained 60 cu ft of resin. The smaller tanks have a lower minimum flow rate that is in line with the flow rates at this facility. The system is designed with “Progressive Flow” controls. In layman’s terms, flow through the system is based on water demand in the facility. With this type of control, salt is reduced, regenerations are minimized, and soft water is consistently produced. With this optimally designed system, this facility is expecting a $72,000 / year cost avoidance.