Flowtronex adds RO, oxygenation to IWM offering

Golf Course News, Apr 2003 by Overbeck, Andrew

DALLAS - Flowtronex PSI Inc. has added reverse osmosis and oxygenation systems to its growing stable of Integrated Water Management solutions. In addition to its line of pump stations, the company sells fertigation, pH control, irrigation and filtration products.

The new reverse osmosis (RO) product has been developed in conjunction with Water Equipment Technologies, a Florida company also under the ITT umbrella. The RO system is made up of a semi-permeable membrane that blocks the transport of salts or other solutes.

RO systems were developed for large-scale projects that needed to turn salt water into irrigation-- quality water, but they have typically been too expensive for smaller applications. However, as cost has come down, golf courses have made use of the technology. Systems are in place at multiple courses in Florida that have turned both high-chloride and brackish water into a suitable irrigation supply. The systems are capable of producing 400,000 to 1,600,000 gallons per day (gpd).

"They are now getting the RO units down cost-wise where it is not only an effective means of removing sodium from water but it can be used in brackish water, poor well water or even effluent water depending on what part of the country you are in," said Flowtronex fertigation national sales manager Alan Olson. "In the past they were used when it was impossible to grow grass without it, now they are being used where you are valuing the improvement in grass quality that you get from higher quality water."

While cost for an RO system depends on the size, capital costs for brackish water RO ranges from $0.60 to $0.90 per gpd of capacity for equipment, installation and commissioning costs. Operating costs range from $0.70 to $0.85 per 1,000 gallons of product water based on a power cost of $.08/kwh and membrane life of five years.

"Since most municipal supplies range from $1.50 to $3.50 per thousand gallons these plants are a very competitive alternative to purchasing water," said Water Equipment Technologies general manager Jorge Menningmann. "They also have an advantage over reclaimed wastewater by providing a continuous, highly reliable supply with a much higher quality."

HIGH-TECH OXYGENATION SYSTEM

Flowtronex is also marketing a new high-tech oxygenation system made by Canadian-based GLR Solutions. GLR takes the typical fountain or subsurface aeration system up a notch by engineering custom units that are sized to target the exact oxygen saturation required by a body of water.

"The GLR system uses a patented device that produces a micro-bubble," said Olson. "The smaller the bubble, the more efficient it is in saturating water with oxygen. This is six times more efficient than anything else out there." The system has no moving parts and sits above water.

Olson estimated that nearly 90 percent of courses aerate some body of water on the property to control algae and odor, among other things. However, he said there may be agronomic benefits to oxygenating irrigation water.

"Superintendents are aware of the aesthetic reasons to aerate ponds, but we are trying to key into the agronomic reasons to do it," said Olson. "Research is ongoing, but the theory is that if we saturate water with oxygen, as you water the golf course you provide more oxygen to the plant through the root zone which translates into better plant health."

Prices for GLR units range from $5,500 for a system that treats four million gallons, to $22,000 for a system that treats 20 million gallons.