The Details of Back Washing for MMDF Tank

After discussing to you the details of regeneration for water softener, a client who read this blog called me up and ask me about the details of back washing for MMDF tank.

So, I again asked him what was the instruction to him by the company that installed his system?, he told me that it’s every other day in order to insure that media tanks are always clean.
Here is a comparative analogy, MMDF tank is the same as the sediment filter (cartridge type), and they have the same function which is to trap particulates or suspended solids from the water. If you use the cartridge type, you will just wait for the cartridge to clog up before you replace it with new one. From the time you place the cartridge until the time it clogs up, it would take so many days (depending on the size of the cartridge, volume of water and level of suspended solids from the water), and once it clogs up then that is the time to replace the cartridge.
If you are using the MMDF (tank type/back washable),once there is a clogging, then that is the time to backwash, considering the length of time before the MMDF tank clogs up would definitely be longer than the cartridge type.
I do not see any reason why we should back wash the MMDF every other day just to insure that filter is clean because it is designed to trap particulates and the accumulation of particulates to the surface of the media elements would even increase the filtration efficiency of the media tank( Principles of the Brownian Motion).
The reason for back washing is slow flow rate due to clogging and not because it is dirty, you cannot expect a floor map to be clean because its purpose is to wipe out dirt from the floor.
If you use a cartridge type filter and tank type filter, both will function effectively and the only difference is the service life, so what is the logic of frequent back washing?
The purpose of frequent back washing is to prevent ‘channeling’, as water enters the media tank it flows down to the center portion of the media elements, just beside the riser tube, thus creating a deep mark on the layer of the media elements and as the process continues, mark will become deeper and deeper decreasing the bed height of the media elements at the center portion and will result to the uneven performance of the media in terms of efficiency.
During the back washing, media elements will be lifted up wards and as it comes down, media surface becomes even thus improving the filtration efficiency of the media tank.
Hoping that this concept will clarify the back washing issues of MMDF tank so as not to create false belief about the importance of back washing.
Sad to say, not all WRS are advised properly that is why most are operating their systems blindly.

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 Concept of Multi Media Depth Filter (MMDF)

Recently, I had an argument with a certain technician claiming that he had been doing the installation for more than 15 years.

The topic revolves around the concept of Multi Media Depth Filter (MMDF)
According to him, it is composed of garnet, pebbles, silica sand, manganese green sand and so on and so port.
He even pointed out that filtration happens from the top layer up to the bottom layer of the media elements he mentioned that is why it called Depth Filtration.
So, all the media elements that he mentioned are all doing the filtration process one at a time or by stages as commonly understood.
He was very

confident of his FORMULA in loading the media elements and even told me that the water tastes different once his FORMULA was used.
For 15 years, he had been using this TRIED and TESTED FORMULA of HIS.
As Behavioral Science graduate, it has always been my discipline that for every concept, there should always be a theoretical and conceptual background of a certain ideas to be discussed.
Sabi nga sa amin sa Batangas, eh nasaan ga ang proven? Sabi nga ng mga Pastor, saan talata sa bibliya nasusulat?
What I am trying to say is that, it does not matter how many years have you been doing it, the things that matters most is, are you doing it the right way?
Now we go to my rebuttal, First, all the media elements that was mentioned are not capable of depth filtration, the silica sand is just for surface filtration and is considered to be one of the supporting beds.
Second, manganese green sand is an oxidizing media element used for removing iron, manganese and sulfur. It has a different application and not considered as part of the Multi Media Depth Filter Tank.
Third, garnet, pebbles and gravel are also supporting bed and has nothing to do with depth filtration.
When it comes to cartridge, depth filtration happens if the cartridge can trap particulates starting from the outer to the inner surface as per Principle of Mechanism of Travel and Mechanism of Catch in conjunction with the Brownian Motion Principle (filtration efficiency increases as filters start to clog but decreased flow rate).
Talking of tank types filter (MMDF),filtration happens from the top surface to the bottom surface of the major filter media which is for MMDF application is the Anthracite coal,although GAC is also considered for depth filtration,however for purposes of simplicity,we just focuss on the Anthracite Coal
It is the Anthracite coal that does the depth filtration and not the gravel, sand, pebbles, manganese, garnet or others being used in order to show that the more layers would mean efficiency of filtration.
These mentioned media elements are just supporting beds (excluding manganese) to prevent the major filter media from collapsing and during the backwash mode, it provides a greater velocity so that particulates can be pushed up going to the drain.
However, this will only happen if, media elements are layered properly,
Now, after discussing to you these issues, it is up to you guys to evaluate the argument and see for yourself which is the right concept.
As I have mentioned, it is a matter of right concept, all of us in the water industry should always have the initiative of harnessing our skills through self study, experience in line with theoretical concept,
That is why, from time to time I share to all of you my views and comments on certain topics that I have learned, not to impress you but for information purposes and if you think that I have overlooked something or have discussed the wrong concept, you always have the right to refute and I will appreciate it very much since it will increase my knowledge. It is always a healthy exchange of ideas and we should always be open for constructive criticism in order for us to grow.
Telling me that it has been his experience for many years without any technical and theoretical basis is unacceptable fact for me.
How I wish that all of us can work hand on hand in informing the public the right 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/

Fallacies on the number of stages (Part 2)

As per concept presented in Part 1, now comes my personal evaluation and interpretation.

The “longer the stages the cleaner the water concept” is a marketing style wherein it tries to present to the public that water can reached it’s highest purification level as it passes through the series or stages of filtration. This was the concept that was imprinted in the minds of the consumers and even water station owners. In broadcasting business, there is what we call, “responsible journalism”, I hope someday, we can have a sort of responsible marketing in the water business. We should be informing the public the right information so that our technology will improve and grow. We should not be living in false concept and beliefs. When we talk of “QUALITY water” for drinking application, we should consider its physico-chemical properties, bacteriological aspects (pathogenic) and now DOH are considering the heterotrophic platelet count (HPC). The moment water quality satisfies the parameters mentioned above, and then water is of drinking standard regardless of the number of stages. The logic is that, number of stages does not guarantee the quality of drinking water, what matters most, is the accuracy of treatment used in a given quality of raw water. Whether it is 2, 3 or 4, etc., as long as the system will be capable of producing drinking quality water, then there is no issue on the no. of stages. In fact, if you are to refer on the Implementing Rules and Regulations of BFAD (IRR) Section 3 paragraph 3,Drinking water is defined as, WATER OBTAINED FROM AN APPROVED SOURCE THAT HAS UNDERGONE MINIMUM TREATMENT CONSISTING OF FILTRATION(ACTIVATED CARBON OR PARTICULATE) AND OZONATION OR EQUIVALENT DISINFECTION PROCESS. Even BFAD and DOH never mentioned of the no. of stages, so why are we stressing a certain concept that is non-existent? It is for you readers to decide if the concepts that I have discussed can be considered or not.

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/

Fallacies on the Number of Stages (Part 1)

Nowadays, the belief is that, “the longer the stages the cleaner the water”. So many set ups were being advertised with the highlights of the number of stages.14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 26, 29 etc.

Question is that, are the number of stages would guarantee you, to have the safest drinking water?

Allow me to present the basic units used in a typical water treatment design for water station.

1) Multi-media depth filter (MMDF) – Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) tank with either automatic, manual or semi-automatic valve with media elements inside. This unit is used to trap particulates or suspended solids from the water through depth filtration. When we talk of depth filtration, it means that filtration happens from top to the bottom of the major filter media which is the Anthracite Coal probably 1 ft3.

Volumes for 1054 tank size and below it are layers of sand and gravel that acts as a supporting bed to prevent the major filter media from collapsing. It can either be 3, 4 or seven layers depending on the designer’s desired height. Let us say we settle for 3 layers supporting bed and Anthracite coal on top, we will be having 4 layers for the MMDF unit. We have 4 layers but function is one.

Trapping of particulates but it is projected as four stages. We have to establish that when we talk of stages, it refers to the gradual enhancement of water in terms of quality as it passes through the said stages. Now talking of MMDF, how many enhancements do the water undergoes? Four stage enhancement or just one? So is it right to say 4 stages or 4 layers single stage?

2) Carbon tank- same concept as the MMDF but the difference is the major filter media, Granular Activated Carbon is used as top layer. Some are saying that there are layers of bituminous carbon, lignite carbon and granular activated carbon but actually functions of bituminous and lignite are the features of Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) sabi nga same banana.

It is designed to remove foul taste, odor, color caused by organic contaminants and any carbon based substance or derivatives. Again it has 4 layers, so how many stages does a carbon tank have? Four or one?

3) Water Softener Tank- same concept as that of MMDF and Carbon Tank but again the difference is the major filter media which is the Resin (Cation resin for calcium, magnesium and iron adsorption) Designed to remove hardness from the water.

So again it has 4 layers but single function which is to convert hard water into soft water by removing calcium and magnesium from the water via ion exchange process(next time I will be discussing the concept of ion exchange).So again, how many stages does a water softener tank has? Four or one?

4) RO sediment pre-filter- you can use 5 micron and 1 micron or just 5 micron sediment filter. However some are using 20,10,5 and 1 micron .We assumed that we will be using 5 and 1 micron sediment filter. So for this segment we use 2 stages.

5) Reverse Osmosis system-Designed to remove salt and other minerals from the water. This is again one stage.

6) Polishing carbon- .We can use either one or two carbon block filters. For our discussion, we use 2 carbon blocks so that means to say, we have 2 stages of polishing carbon. The first carbon block is intended to remove organic contaminants that the water might have while inside the product tank and the second carbon is for further enhancement in terms of taste and appearance.

7) Ultra Violet Sterilizer-eliminates disease causing micro-organisms by emitting ultra violet rays while water is passing through the reaction chamber. This is again a single stage process.

Here is the summary:

MMDF – 1 stage
Carbon Tank- 1 stage
Water Softener- 1 stage
RO pre filter- 2 stages
RO- 1 stage
Polishing carbon- 2 stages
UV- 1 stage

Total number of stages: 9 stages

Next time, I will be discussing the analysis and interpretation of the concept presented.

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/

Alkaline vs Mineral

From Irene: 

Hi po, may water station po kami 2 yrs na po kaming nag ooperate, inaalok po kami ng franchiser namin na mag dagdag ng machine para sa alkaline pero nabasa ko po sa internet na mabilis masira ang alkaline katulad ng mineral, tutoo po ba?

Reply from Orly Shanghai:

Miss Irene,

Just want to clarify the term MASIRA that you mentioned about Mineral and Alkaline water.

In the first place, Alkaline water is a mineral water, however the difference is the mineral content.

In mineral water, you have both positive and negative minerals but in Alkaline, you have the positive minerals only.

About the concept the mabilis masira, I cannot imagine kung ano ang masisira, kasi the famous brand like Viva, Hidden Spring, Forest Spring and other bottled mineral water are not getting any negative comments about the quality kaya how is it possible na masira yung tubig.

Maybe you are referring to the off taste after you stock the mineral water for a couple of days, so it is not actually the quality issue of the said water but it is the systems used in processing mineral water.

If you will be using the right design for mineral water processing then there is no such thing as masisira.

Every water has its own quality so treatment should always vary depending on the said quality.

About the Alkaline water na masisira, actually it is the ORP that will goes up once it is stock for a longer period. Alkaline water should be having a negative ORP, can be -400 to -800,so,if it is stocked, then ORP will goes up, will be -200 or -100,therefore when it happens, the ability of water to donate electrons and neutralize the free radicals in the body will be lessen.

About your plans of having the alkaline machine, try to make a research about the unit that does the Alkaline Ionized water so that you can have a comparison before you decide.

Just remember, simple Alkaline Water has a PH of more than 7 but Alkaline Ionized Water, which was a Japanese Technology is not just having PH more than 7 but also oxygenated water, reduced molecular cluster and good ORP.

As far as Japanese technology is concern, you can only have true Alkaline Ionized Water if you will be using electrolysis process, it is the separation of the positive from the negative minerals.

Hope that I have enlightened you on your concern.

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/

Types of Customers in WRS Business

1) Loyal - customers that has strong ties with the suppliers.

2) Opportunistic - customers that consider other benefits from the suppliers. These types of customers do not have loyalty to any suppliers.

3) Seasonal - customers that buy product from time to time or on a “as per requirement basis”.

4) Incidental - those who become customer by chance.

·                     A) Regular user-those who have encountered problems with other suppliers.

·                     B) New -those who buy the product at given period of time.

Among these customers, the opportunistic customer is the most common and right now due to cut throat competition, they are becoming to be so powerful that in every negotiation with the supplier, they usually have the leverage and dictates the direction of the bargaining.

Since the objective nowadays of the water stations is to outsmart each other by offering so many benefits to the client in order to get them, unknowingly they are being armed with all the artilleries that they will be using during the negotiation.

Water stations have created their own ghost which will later haunt them.

Sad to say, but that is the reality right now and as of the moment, no concrete solution is being undertaken on this issue.

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/

Lessons to be Learned from WRS Business

      I went to the house of my niece to attend the birthday party of her husband, there I met the relatives of her husband who came all along from Bolinao, Pangasinan.

One of the relatives happened to own a water station there and actually a franchise of one of the famous company here in Manila who does the franchising of water refilling station.

He has lots of concern about the operations of his station, as if he is at a lost. The first thing that came to my mind was that, this man in front of me does not deserve to suffer all of these.

If given a chance that all of his financial investment will be refunded to him, he will be very thankful. However, things will not happen that way and realistically speaking, his only choice is to continue his SUFFERINGS with hopes that things will get better in the near future.

I had given him lots of advises and explained to him that the LESSON that he learned from his experience, will be his guide for the future decision making that he has to undertake.

What I am trying to impart is that, before engaging in a particular business, be sure to study all its details so that you will not regret later.

The poor man is a father of an OFW worker and the capital that was invested was a product of the sweat and blood of his dear son that turned out to nothing.

I was able to contact the agent that handled the transaction and he told me that he already resigned from the company prior to its installation.

He told me that the company should assumed the responsibilities that he left and not to put the blame on him.

As you assess this story, who do you think should be blamed? As for my personal point of view, it is always the company that should be in control of everything.

Agents are just representatives of the company, whatever agreement that would transpire between the agent and the client should always be recognized by the company and must always be binding when it comes to business.

It is the responsibility of the company to breed sales agents that are PROFESSIONAL enough to discuss and present the concept of water station business. Presentation should be transparent coupled with social obligation to ensure that clients will be getting the worth of what they paid for.

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/