The risk of possible HCC and Legionella detections is much higher in the modern day. Side stream filtration reduces this risk especially when you return the filtered water to the cooling tower basin via agitation eductors. What the nozzles do is minimise “dead zones” within the basin where bacteria can grow. A secondary benefit is that the agitated environment helps to promote the mixture of water treatment chemicals.

In the past, side stream filtration systems were installed where they would get fluctuating bacteria counts in the water. With the installation of a side stream filter, the bacteria levels would decrease and level out thereby making the chemical dosing much easier to manage.

Type of Filter

There are many types of filters available depending upon the application. Bag filters & UV are commonly used in potable drinking water or laboratory water applications, while screen and side stream filtration is used with cooling towers.

Screen filtration is a superior alternative to other forms for a cooling tower system. Cyclonic filters have their benefits, but unlike screen filtration, they rely heavily on flow rate (and not too much either) to function.

Another form of filtration used on cooling towers is sand filtration. However, this should be strictly prohibited because they are breeding stores for legionella. Furthermore, they use vast amounts of water in the backwash. Sand filters are designed for pools, NOT cooling towers. Please help by insisting these be removed from the market.

The major advantage of the Masterflow screen filter system is its ability to remove organic material that is present in the cooling tower as a hydro-cyclone separator/sand filter will not do this. Specify a Masterflow side stream filtration package – sample specifications are available for download here.