choosing a water treatment company
If you are responsible for maintaining and operating water systems such as evaporative cooling, steam, chilled, heating or water services you are probably going to need expert help. Operating water systems presents challenges around scale formation, corrosion and bacterial problems such as legionella so there is a lot to consider.
EXPERTISE & EXPERIENCE
You need a company who can provide personnel with expert knowledge of the type of systems you operate. Check the experience of the team they are going to send to your site (not just the sales team).
Whichever company you choose will need to be competent to maintain the equipment you have such as water softeners or chemical dosing systems, so check their familiarity with the specific equipment you have. Do they know the service procedures? Can they get spares?
SUPPORT
Larger companies will have their own technical departments who can support the account manager assigned to your project when needed. Smaller companies will have a network of specialist companies they can call on for additional expertise if needed. Both approaches have their benefits and drawbacks – this is worth exploring with any potential new water treatment company.
LOCATION
Will the company be able to provide a consultant or account manager who is located in your area? If regular site visits are going to be needed, as well as review meetings its going to be more practical if they are based locally. Consider what type of service support you are going to need to maintain your systems – monthly visits, weekly visits or even emergency call outs?
COMMUNICATION AND RECORDS
Your water treatment programme which maintains your water systems and controls the risk of legionella generates a lot of records in the form of test results, inspections and certification. It’s important to be able to keep these records in an organised way so that audits by customers or regulators such as the HSE go smoothly.
Find out how your new water treatment supplier will supply these reports to you. Companies will use various systems for records such as on-line portals etc, so you need to be sure that their system is going to suit your needs.
REPUTATION
Look beyond the sales literature and company website – ask for references. Find out which similar companies to yours your potential new water treatment company looks after currently and contact them for a direct reference. A water treatment company with a good reputation and long-term customer relationships will be happy to arrange this.
