Chemical Dosing Systems: Buy or Hire?

Chemical dosing equipment is vital to water and wastewater treatment, and to many other industrial and manufacturing processes, but do you need to buy it? The following guide explains why hiring dosing systems is often a better option than investing in your own.

To maintain quality, manage costs and comply with increasingly stringent regulations, especially in the case of treating water and wastewater, dosing must be precise, consistent and controllable. It requires a system that closely matches the plant’s process needs, performs effectively and keeps on working, dependably, day after day. In some circumstances it may be difficult or impossible for the site’s existing equipment to deliver on those expectations.

Hired systems to the rescue

Typical situations in which dosing system hire can be a short-term problem-solver or a long-term solution are summarised below.

When your equipment suffers an unplanned stoppage

In the case of a breakdown or a leak, a hired system can be brought in to keep your plant operating. This is particularly welcome when the process is so critical that an extended stoppage would be disastrous. For water treatment works, it also reduces the risk of untreated discharges and pollution-related fines. Meanwhile, it buys time for your engineers to assess the problem, obtain replacement parts and make repairs.

When a dosing system shutdown is planned

You may need to shut down a dosing system for maintenance, refurbishment, modification, upgrading or expansion of your plant and its facilities. Hiring dosing equipment again avoids interrupting your process.

When you are considering new strategies and processes

Before spending money on new equipment to improve process efficiency, reduce operating costs or meet tighter regulations, you should be sure it will have the desired effect. What works well in theory, or in the laboratory, may not work so well in your operation. By using a hired dosing system for field testing, you can determine the real-life effectiveness of proposed changes and then invest with certainty.

When your operational demands fluctuate

Seasonal and other short-term changes in process needs or overall demand can be addressed by hiring the necessary dosing equipment. This provides a very flexible and cost-effective way of adapting your plant’s capabilities to cover temporary variations.

When your skilled staff are overstretched

In today’s world of de-manning and loss of skills, you may find you have limited in-house capacity and knowledge for installing, testing and maintaining dosing systems. Hiring overcomes this problem, as the equipment is specified, engineered and tested by a specialist provider, and then delivered as a ready-to-install standalone system. If you wish, the supplier can also manage the installation, commissioning and maintenance.

When your CAPEX budget is short

Constraints on your CAPEX (capital expenditure) budget can be a major obstacle if your plant’s facilities need to be replaced or substantially upgraded. By hiring instead of buying your new dosing equipment, you can reduce its cost to a relatively low monthly payment under your OPEX (operating expenditure) budget. Alternatively, you can use a hired system as an interim measure until further CAPEX funds become available.

Optimise the value of hiring

Once you have decided to explore the possibility of hiring, you should check on the capabilities and capacities of the hiring companies. To be sure they can meet your needs fully, ask yourself these questions.

1. Are they experienced in your sector?

Can you see a comprehensive portfolio of equipment and services covering that sector’s special requirements? Look for a range of appropriate resources and expertise, a strong infrastructure, and compliance with the necessary environmental and safety standards. Satisfy yourself that the company has everything it takes to provide a package tailored to your budget and operation.

2. Do their systems cater for your scale of operation?

Does their range stretch from small to high-capacity solutions? Will their operation and filling methods integrate seamlessly with your procedures and supply chain? Chemical specifications and storage requirements may vary hugely between sites and processes. Some are best served by very compact integrated systems. Others will need containerised systems with tank capacities of up to 20 cubic metres, filled by drum, IBC (intermediate bulk container) or tanker.

3. Is their equipment readily adaptable to your operation?

Are their pumps, valves and pipework suited to the chemicals you use, for example? Do their pumps meet your flow and pressure specifications? Are the timing and dosing parameters easy to set and adjust? This kind of versatility must be engineered into systems right from the start and is essential to achieving the best performance.

4. How quickly can they make the equipment available?

This depends largely on the size of their hire fleet, the efficiency of their logistics and the level of their commitment to fast delivery. In particular, find out their emergency response time. This is vital in the case of sudden breakdowns or leaks, for instance. You must be confident that they will react immediately to your call by mobilising equipment the same day, so it can be operating within the next few days.

5. Are their systems quick and easy to deploy?

Look for palletised or containerised systems which can be transported rapidly to your site. They should be robust and weatherproof, so you can position them wherever needed. To save on installation and commissioning time, their components should be pre-integrated, pre-tested and complete. An ISO tank, for example, should come with a suitable bund and with its filling and safety systems already in place.

6. Will their equipment connect readily with yours?

There is nothing worse than finding that a hired system’s connections are incompatible with the equipment on site. Make sure the hire company understands the importance of sending all the right pipework and connectors to link easily with existing or supplied dosing lines. There should also be a choice between using independently operated controls or linking to existing sensors and on-site or remote control systems.

7. Can you trust their advice?

Unless you already know exactly what system you want, and how to install and maintain it, you will be dependent on hire companies for advice and support. Look for evidence that their staff have the expertise to identify the ideal equipment for your needs and are qualified to give expert technical guidance on its installation and maintenance. Their range of services should include assembling dosing system packages based on your specifications or on surveying your site.

8. Do they have a good reputation?

Are they known for responsiveness, flexibility and good service? Do they have a proven track record of fulfilling customers’ requirements in both planned and emergency situations?

Provided the answer to all of these questions is ‘yes’, you can confidently seek a hired dosing system solution and gain its full advantage. For further advice on hiring or purchasing chemical dosing equipment, visit www.wes.ltd.uk.