Micron Filter Specifications

A distributor came to our office and bought 100 pcs. slim 20 sediment filter with 5 micron rating.

He told me that the 5 micron rating is very effective in filtering suspended solids from the water not unlike the 10, 20 and 30 micron ratings.

As per his concept, there is a very big difference in filtration efficiency if you will be using the 5 micron filters.

If you try to see the diameter of a hair strand, it is rated 75 micron, the smallest visible particle that can be seen by the naked eye is 40 micron and below 40 micron you need to use a microscope.

So,5,10,20,30 and even 1 and .5 micron are all within the micro filtration range based on the filtration spectrum and since we just monitor the clarity of water using our naked eye, we cannot see the difference in terms of filtration efficiency not unless we use the turbidity test comparison and the silk density index test (SDI).

In water refilling station operation, the DOH monitors the turbidity of water to the maximum of 5 NTU (nephelometric turbidity unit) and above the said range, it is no longer considered drinking standard.

MWSS water as per turbidity test (without undergoing any filtration) has a turbidity of 1 NTU and after being processed as RO water will have a turbidity of .o something and the mineral water will be having 0.something.

Since the DOH has a maximum range of 5 NTU, why is it that we are trying to choke ourselves with our own prescribed standard by using 5 micron filters and even 1 and .5 microns? in fact the lower the micron rating the higher the pressure drop, and to think that these sediment filters will not remove foul taste and even will not enhance the taste of the water being filtered, there is no need to exaggerate its use.

Hope that I was able to share my thoughts to all of you.

Address: 3453-55 V. Mapa Street

Santa Mesa, Manila 1016 Metro Manila, Philippines

Office hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

Hotline: (02) 5679999

Website: http://shanghaioriental.com/

What is Anthracite? Carbon? MMDF? GAC?

A client visited our office and ask me these questions:

1) What is Anthracite?
2) What is carbon?
3) Why use Anthracite in MMDF?
4) Why use GAC in carbon tank?
5) What is the difference of Anthracite from Carbon?

These are concerns that he wanted to figure out because he kept on buying these items and used for in his installations but he really don’t know the real essence of what he is doing.

In Marketing parlance, there is what we call as Monkey See, Monkey do technique. If people will see that a particular business is profitable then they will put up the same business. This is the common scenario in Shawrama, Tapsilog, Lugawan, Bilyaran, Nata de Coco and even water refilling stations.

If we are to co-relate this concept, my client before was a technician from a famous water company, but had already closed down, during those times, he was just instructed by his boss to do this, fix that, install this, repair that and so on and so fort.

Since the company has closed down, he has no more job, and in order for him to survive, he took the servicing of the refilling stations that were installed by their company before.

He was able to make good in his career that is why, right now, he is the owner of a small water company with an average monthly purchase of 300k from our company.

He is well versed when it comes to installation per se since it was the very nature of his work before, however, technically and theoretically speaking, he is unfamiliar with the true nature of the systems he is dealing with.

He was taught to do a certain work and he continued doing it up to now without really knowing what he is doing.

This is a common scenario in the water industry, people employed in one company will later put up their own business that is why competition is becoming stiffer and stiffer.

If we are to analyze my client, “Monkey See, Monkey Do principle” came in two forms, one is that, the experience that he had was now adapted for his own installation style, the second one is that, the concept of the business was copied.

My emphasis is about the adoption of previous experience to the present work that led him to ask me about Anthracite and Carbon issues.

Anthracite is a coal based media intended to remove particulates from the liquid being filtered. It has a depth filtration function that is why when loaded to the media tank, the said tank is called MMDF (Multi Media Depth Filter) that has the capacity of filtering particulates from its top layer up to its bottom layer. It should be noted that depth filtration process happens from the top to the bottom layer of the Anthracite and not from the gravel, pebbles and silica sand that are incorporated in the media tank, said items are just supporting bed to prevent the Anthracite from collapsing.

Granular Activated Carbon is either wood based or coconut based media that can remove foul taste, odor, color, chlorine and other substances that are carbon based derivatives. It should be noted that only contaminants that are caused by organic substance can be removed by the Granular Activated Carbon.

Removal of contaminants is based on the Principle of Adsorption (contaminants would adhere to the surface of the granular activated carbon) as per simplicity imagine the metal and the magnet. It is very important to consider the water that will be passing through the carbon should at least have minimal particulates so that it will not affect the adsorptive property of the Granular Activated, imagine a rubber placed in between the magnet and the metal. On the other hand, Granular Activated Carbon also has the depth filtration property, so it can also do the function of the Anthracite, however when this happens, granular activated carbon would loosen its adsorptive property easily and would retain its depth filtration property. In order to maintain the efficiency of its adsorptive property, then we have to filter out the particulates first by using the Anthracite so that the Granular Activated Carbon can concentrate on its adsorptive function.

In cases where in the MMDF tanks will be loaded with Granular Activated Carbon followed by the Carbon tank also loaded with Granular Activated Carbon is an acceptable concept here in the Philippines, however in countries where Granular activated carbon is far more expensive than Anthracite, then such concept is impractical.

Just sharing my thoughts about the concept.

Address: 3453-55 V. Mapa Street

Santa Mesa, Manila 1016 Metro Manila, Philippines

Office hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

Hotline: (02) 5679999

Website: http://shanghaioriental.com/

The Backwash of the Carbon Tank

Just want to respond to the question of Nightwing regarding the backwash of the Carbon tank. First, it is important to know that MMDF and Carbon tank operates in different principles.

MMDF is particle filtration and Carbon tank is adsorption filtration.Particle filtration involves trapping of particulates and other suspended solids while adsorption filtration involves adherence of organic contaminants and other substances that are carbon based,simulation of this concept is the relation of magnet and metallic objects,the magnet is the carbon and the metallic object is the organic contaminants.
When we talk of carbon tank, it is important to consider the absorptive property of the carbon media to ensure that said media elements is doing it’s function effectively and in doing so, outer surface of carbon granules should not be obstructed with particulates so that adsorption will be efficient,( place a wood in between the magnet and the metal object).
Usually MMDF is placed before the carbon tank, MMDF takes charge of the particulates so that carbon will not be affected with huge amount of suspended solids and can concentrate on adsorptive function(One unit complementing the other concept)
Assuming that the MMDF is functioning effectively, back washing of carbon may not be done frequently.We just co relate the theories of MMDF tank that was discussed previously.What is important is to monitor the efficiency of MMDF tank in terms of turbidity so that carbon tank will not suffer from particulate build up.

Address: 3453-55 V. Mapa Street

Santa Mesa, Manila 1016 Metro Manila, Philippines

Office hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

Hotline: (02) 5679999

Website: http://shanghaioriental.com/

Some Wrong Beliefs About the Membrane

Since our readers right now are having ideas of the factors that affect the performance of the membrane, I just want to discuss some wrong beliefs about the membrane per se.

First, some are saying that Hydronautics membranes made in China have lesser quality than counterparts made in Japan or USA. Most of the end users had the wrong impressions of the products made in China.
We have to consider the fact that Nitto Denko, manufacturer of Hydranautics is a Japanese company, and had a manufacturing plant in Japan, USA and China.
With regards to quality, then all these plants are under the supervision of Nitto Denko so I do not see any variations when it comes to the general quality in terms of performance.
The reason for the price difference is due to freight, handling and taxes. Even labor in

China is cheaper, so the cost of China made Hydranautics membranes are really cheaper compared to USA and Japanese made.
When we talk of quality, regardless of its point of origin, should be the same.
Second, Filmtech membranes on the other hand are all manufactured in USA except for HRLE which is made in China, but DOW, the manufacturer of Filmtech have plans of transferring their production in China.
Third, CSM membranes are all made in Korea, when talking of technologies, they are far more superior to ours, and CSM brands have gained reputations in the world market.
Fourth, Osmonics membranes are also US brand but I do not know if they already have the manufacturing plant here in ASIA, I am not familiar with operations of GE when it comes to their production sites.
Fifth, other brands not mentioned, as long as they have the test protocol written in the brochure to prove their claims, then we can conclude that qualities are competitive.
The point is that, regardless of any membrane brands, as long as you know its characteristics and applications and as long as the system design is right then, we can say that all membranes would function according to its purpose.
Sad to say, nowadays, most of the membrane failures are believed to cause by its poor quality. Although we cannot discount the fact that there are some factory defects issue, but that would be ruled out upon assessment of the systems design and membrane performance.
I just hope that someday, all concerned will all be enlightened with the right concepts of filtration and purification.

Address: 3453-55 V. Mapa Street

Santa Mesa, Manila 1016 Metro Manila, Philippines

Office hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

Hotline: (02) 5679999

Website: http://shanghaioriental.com/

Membrane Warranty Issue

A client called me up complaining about the membrane that he bought from us more than a month ago. According to him, after a month of operation, the said membrane clogged up and he told me that membrane is fake because it did not last long. He even commented that he tried almost all the brands but all of them are not of good quality and that lead him to his conclusion that a lot of membrane nowadays are not the genuine one.

During our entire conversation, he did not mention anything about the configuration of his system and it’s condition,even the quality of his feed water was never considered.

If you try to analyze his concern, it seems that all the failures were attributed to the membrane alone, it was really a one sided story as if ,he was able to perfect the art of membrane technology and have zeroed out the culprit which is,the membrane.

I asked him basic details about his system and the quality of his feed water but he knew nothing about it.

I asked for his technician to discuss about the issue, but still, he was very surprise to my inquiries. The client is totally relying on the technician who knew nothing at all about the principle of reverse osmosis and yet both of them claimed that it was the membrane failure.
“If a blind leads a blind, both will fall into the ditch.”

As for membrane warranty, technically, suppliers will always deny it, not unless we were able to present pertinent data that would prove that, it is really the membrane failure, in legal parlance, you have to prove it beyond reasonable doubt,however based on our practice, no one in the commercial market is monitoring and recording such data, so, the warranty that we are discussing is just part of our imagination.

There are so many factors that could affect the membrane,we should always evaluate all the possible cause so that we can prolong the membrane’s service life.

On the case of my client, no warranty will ever be considered, due to obvious reason and failure started one month after it’s installation, it can be assumed that membrane’s performance could have been affected by undetermined factor.

Always asked your technician or installer about system and feed water monitoring,based on my experience,it is not the factory defect, it is the technician’s defect.

Always be sure of the technician or company that you are dealing with.

Address: 3453-55 V. Mapa Street

Santa Mesa, Manila 1016 Metro Manila, Philippines

Office hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

Hotline: (02) 5679999

Website: http://shanghaioriental.com/

Shanghai Oriental Corporate Video 2015

Membrane Troubleshooting

Just want to share my experiences about membrane troubleshooting. Every time clients are complaining to me about the issue of low production upon installation of the new membrane, I always tell them that we have to test the membrane to confirm the issue. If clients are saying that it is a factory defect, upon testing the membrane, I will rule out that it is not factory defect but Customer’s Defect or Technician’s Defect.

What do I mean by this? First of all you have to understand that Reverse Osmosis is a technical concept and for you to fully understand the system, you have to know the Principle of Reverse Osmosis.

If someone will be saying that they know how to install the membrane but does not understand the concept, then that is where the problem always lies.

First every membrane has its own test protocol according to its applied pressure, production, NACL and recovery rate. When we talk of NACL, we are talking of the osmotic pressure, if someone will say they don’t know this but have installed so many membranes, do you think that guy is credible and competent enough to discuss issues about membrane trouble shooting.

Second, membrane production depends on feed pressure and flowrate. If you ask them what is the feed flowrate and they do not know the capacity of the pump head or the performance curve of the vertical motor that they are using? Patay na!

How about the capacity of the feed pump? Is it capable enough to sustain the requirement of the RO module? What is the assumptive delivery volume of the said pump once it reaches the pump head?

These are just some of the things to consider when designing a system or doing the membrane troubleshooting.

The membrane is the most sensitive part of the basic systems that we are selling (WRS Set-up) any deviation from the technical design would affect its performance.

The main issue is what part of the system is contributory to the failure of the membrane. That is where troubleshooting comes in. Sabi ko nga uli,”You Hit the Nail by the Head”. Others are doing the “Guessing Game” or others will be doing it their own way, sabi nga may sariling concept, habang gumagawa nga sila kumakanta pa ng “MY WAY ni Paul Anka”

I am telling you all of these not to offend others doing their livelihood but to inform them the need to enrich their knowledge so that they can became useful and not damaging to the Water Industry.

For me, I never stop reading water treatment articles and I even ask my friends if I have doubts on certain issues. I am not saying na sobrang galing ko, in fact marami pa ko di alam and how I wish na mas marami akong ma meet na tao na magagaling sa Water Treatment para lalo pa ko matuto.

I just try to see that what I am doing is within the bounds of water filtration and purification concept.

Address: 3453-55 V. Mapa Street

Santa Mesa, Manila 1016 Metro Manila, Philippines

Office hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

Hotline: (02) 5679999

Website: http://shanghaioriental.com/