Water Monitoring and Removal is Critical for All Storage and lubricating systems . Poor operations and maintenance procedures for water monitoring and removal from storage systems can lead to a number of problems, from degradation of fuel or oil quality and subsequent decrease in performance or breakdown of major equipment, microbial contamination and capital losses.

This pertains to all storage systems, both underground and aboveground and all lubricating and hydraulic systems constructed of any material and storing/moving nearly any oil based product - gasoline, diesel, lube oil, heating oils, aviation jet fuel and others.

Entire systems are potentially impacted by water and its possible consequences. It is impossible to live without a water problem and even worse not to continually monitor the extent of water contamination. It is imperative that all owners and operators of oil storage systems immediately implement routine and regular operations and maintenance procedures for water monitoring and removal of water and even better to install online water monitoring devices.

The EASZ-1 is an online sensor easily retrofitted to any oil purification or filtration system to ascertain the moisture contamination level and the effectiveness of the purifier or water removal system. Normally the EASZ-1 is a same day ship item, it has a analog output corresponding to water content which can be plugged into a control system. PLC or remote display.alarm.

Recent Industry Changes Elevate the Importance of Water Monitoring and Removal Although operations and maintenance procedures for water monitoring and removal have been a recommended practice for over thirty years, recent changes within the industry have increased the risk for water entry and accumulation in the storage system, and subsequent microbial growth if water is not removed. The distribution infrastructure has seen a lot of changes. More fuel is moving faster through the distribution/delivery infrastructure, leaving less time for water to settle out before the product moves from step to step in the distribution process.

A shift from proprietary to shared delivery infrastructures (bulk terminals, pipelines, transports) has removed much of the control that individual companies had over the process and product. From the removal of lead and MTBE, to additives such as ethanol and biodiesel, product chemistry has undergone fairly recent change. These new fuels are more susceptible to moisture accumulation, separation and potential biodegradation accelerated by water. For example, lead was a natural poison to the microbes that could grow in a moist environment - in today's lead-free fuels, microbial growth can more readily occur. Installation procedures.

Common procedures - including open vents, low fill areas and sloped tank installations - contribute to water accumulation. Microbial activity is better understood and more common. As a result of the above changes within the industry, microbial activity has been found to be a much more common phenomenon than previously realized. If you are in the fuel business -In order to safeguard your business, maintain good customer relations, ensure high-quality fuel, and leak-free operation of your storage systems, you must monitor for water in those systems and remove water whenever it is detected. This must be a routine part of your operations and maintenance procedures.

Water can enter a system in many ways via damaged fill boxes or fill cap gaskets, loose fittings or plugs, poor practices relating to spill buckets, rainwater accumulated within tank sumps and which enter via any tank orifices that are not water/vapor tight, and condensation caused by oil temperature swings or air entering via vents, leaks in seals and so on.

Certain oils and fuels are also more prone to moisture attraction and subsequent separation when subject to temperature swings. Preventing Potential Problems Associated with Water Major industry groups have developed recommended operations and maintenance procedures, but best practices should include monitoring and checking for water with online water monitors.

Inspecting fill and vapor caps for damages and for missing gaskets, replacing if necessary. Inspecting product and spill containment buckets and proper disposal of water if found (not draining back into the tank).Auditing the fuel delivery process and water content. Using water-sensitive fuel filters and watching for slowed-down fueling.

Treating storage tanks with antimicrobial pesticide (biocide) on a regular basis ,employing a qualified professional to examine the inside of the tank and system and taking samples from process systems and many other practices can be employed but in the end we need to know the effectiveness of these practices. An online water sensor takes away the guessing in this all.

Hazy or waxy fuel samples indicate water and readily available field detection kits can check for microbes and whether the fuel meets specifications.