Solution — Yuangan Technology Pipeline Direct Drinking Water Quality Online Monitoring Solution

Pipeline direct drinking water, the full name of "pipeline high-quality direct drinking water", is a modern drinking water solution built using the concept of quality-separated water supply. By setting up water treatment machine rooms in residential areas, schools, hospitals, hotels or office buildings, the tap water is deeply purified. The purified high-quality water is transported to the user terminal through an independent circulating pipe network set up with food-grade stainless steel pipes. The user can drink it directly by opening a special faucet.

healthiness

Multi-stage purification process: multi-media, activated carbon, softening, RO membrane, mineral and other filtration methods, and sterilization methods such as ozone and ultraviolet light, which can effectively remove harmful substances in the water, retain beneficial minerals, and provide healthy drinking water with neutral or weakly alkaline pH.

security

Fully enclosed food-grade stainless steel pipe network transportation, 24-hour cycle sterilization, to prevent secondary pollution and ensure fresh water is produced and used.

Economy

A tiered water price is implemented, and the average water price is far lower than the cost of bottled water and community water stations.

Intelligence

Equipped with a 24-hour water quality detection system, it supports mobile phone payment and real-time monitoring to achieve intelligent management.

Development background

In the Chinese market, many cities have set clear development goals: Shanghai City has proposed that the city's water supply quality will meet the demand for direct drinking water by 2035; Baotou City, as an industry model, has implemented a direct drinking water project in 2004 and has become the only city in China to achieve full coverage of urban direct drinking water facilities. According to relevant data, by 2024, China's pipeline direct drinking water market will reach 50 billion yuan, with a supply capacity of 480,000 tons/day. It is expected that in the next few years, with the further improvement of national health awareness and continued support from government policies, the scale of the piped drinking water market will continue to grow.

The necessity of online monitoring of water quality and analysis of monitoring parameters

Online monitoring of water quality plays a key role in pipeline direct drinking water systems. Although direct drinking water has been intensively treated, it still faces risks such as pipe network leakage, bacterial growth, and accidental contamination during the transportation process. The online monitoring system can monitor water quality changes 24 hours a day, detect abnormalities in time and provide early warning to avoid the expansion of pollution incidents.

At the same time, it can also improve operational efficiency: traditional manual inspection methods are time-consuming and labor-intensive and have limited frequency (usually once a day or several times a month). The online monitoring system can realize high-frequency data collection (real-time monitoring), helping operators accurately grasp the changing patterns of water quality, optimize water purification process parameters, and reduce operation and maintenance costs.

Core monitoring parameters and significance

Based on the characteristics of piped direct drinking water systems, the following key parameters need to be monitored, each of which has specific safety significance and technical requirements:

Turbidity

Turbidity is a key indicator for evaluating the clarity of water and directly reflects the content of suspended particulate matter in the water. In direct drinking water systems, excessive turbidity will not only affect the senses, but more seriously, it will reduce the disinfection effect and provide a breeding environment for microorganisms. According to standard requirements, the turbidity of direct drinking water should be controlled below 0.5NTU, which is much lower than the 1NTU standard of ordinary tap water. Online turbidity monitoring can identify filtration system failures or pipe network deposition problems in real time.

Ozone

Ozone sterilization is the core process link of direct drinking water system. Monitoring ozone concentration has a dual meaning: on the one hand, it ensures sufficient continuous sterilization ability to prevent the growth of microorganisms in the pipe network; on the other hand, it avoids the formation of harmful by-products such as bromate due to excessive concentration, and prevents the corrosion of stainless steel pipes by excessive ozone. The ideal control range is 0.05~0.1mg/L.

pH

The pH value not only affects the taste of drinking water, but is also directly related to the corrosion and scaling balance of the pipe network. A low pH value (acidic) will accelerate the corrosion of metal pipes and lead to the dissolution of heavy metals; a high pH value (alkaline) will easily cause calcium carbonate deposition and cause pipe network blockage. For direct drinking water systems, it is recommended to maintain the pH in the neutral to slightly alkaline range of 6.5-8.5, which not only meets health needs but also protects the pipe network system.

Conductivity

Conductivity is a comprehensive indicator for evaluating the total amount of ions in water and can directly reflect the purity of water. In direct drinking water systems based on the reverse osmosis (RO) process, abnormal increases in conductivity often indicate damage to the membrane elements or a decrease in filtration efficiency, which requires timely maintenance. The conductivity of high-quality drinking water is usually controlled below 50 μS/cm.

Difficulties in online monitoring of piped drinking water

Online monitoring of water quality in pipeline direct drinking water systems faces a series of technical and management challenges and requires targeted solutions:

Monitoring cost pressure brought by high water prices: The production cost of direct drinking water is much higher than that of ordinary tap water. The daily water consumption of traditional continuous monitoring methods can reach hundreds of liters, and the annual cost of monitoring water alone is as high as more than 10,000 yuan. For large systems such as schools and communities, the accumulated water waste and economic losses caused by multi-point monitoring are particularly significant.

Water quality fluctuations and early warning lags: Direct drinking water systems are subject to change: changes in raw water quality, peak and valley fluctuations in water consumption, changes in pipe network pressure, etc.

Equipment reliability in harsh environments: The environment in the direct drinking water equipment room is complex, with problems such as moisture, ozone corrosion, and electromagnetic interference. Conventional monitoring equipment is prone to problems such as sensor aging, circuit failure, and data drift in this environment. In particular, the life of ozone sensors may be shortened by 30%-50% in high-humidity and high-ozone environments.

Remote sensing multi-parameter water quality online monitoring solution

In response to the special needs and industry pain points of pipeline direct drinking water quality monitoring, YuanGan Technology independently developed an integrated multi-parameter water quality online analyzer, which can solve problems for users.

Advantages of water quality online analyzer

0 1 Highly integrated design

The equipment integrates four core parameter monitoring capabilities of turbidity, ozone, pH, and conductivity (optional residual chlorine), making it easy to install and maintain. The HBC water quality online analyzer is small in size, 480mm*580mm*235mm, which is only 1/3 of the traditional split system. All sensors inside are self-developed and produced by Remote Sensing.

Case of supporting pipeline direct drinking water equipment