Boosting Water Filtration Efficiency With CMMS
If there’s one thing that industrial facility managers look for in the workplace, it’s efficiency. Whether you’re producing goods, in charge of a warehouse, or managing any type of industrial facility, efficiency can mean the difference between making a profit or losing money. In addition to having efficient operations, it’s also important to maximize the efficiency of your industrial water filtration system.
One of the best ways to help your water filtration system operate more efficiently is with a computerized maintenance management system. These types of systems help your filtration system work smarter, not harder, and can help you optimize maintenance operations.
If you’re curious and want to know more about how computerized maintenance management systems work and why they increase water filtration system efficiency, you’ve come to the right place. This article will examine the importance of water filtration systems in the workplace and how computerized software can improve performance and reduce equipment downtime.
What Are Computer Maintenance Management Systems?
Computerized Maintenance Management Systems, better known as CMMS software, are taking the world by storm. Upwards of half of all workplaces and industrial facilities, including water treatment facilities, incorporate CMMS software in one way or another.
CMMS software offers a centralized platform for storing and reviewing information about different systems and components. This information can help you make informed decisions about maintenance operations, water management, and more. In short, CMMS helps you remain more informed about everything that goes on with your water filtration system.
In addition to its use in water treatment facilities, you can also use CMMS in other industries that utilize water filtration, including:
- Pharmaceuticals
- Shopping centers
- Hospitals
- Manufacturing facilities
- Food and beverage production
The Importance of Water Filtration Systems in Facilities Management
Water filtration systems are immensely important in industrial settings, especially facilities management. Proper filtration helps prevent water contamination, protects the public, and protects any equipment utilizing the water. Additionally, proper water filtration also protects your bottom line, as contaminated water can lead to financial ruin for several reasons.
Contaminated water can cause serious clogs, leaks, and other issues, indefinitely putting important equipment out of commission. Fouled-up equipment can lead to massive financial losses if you manage a pharmaceutical or beverage production facility. Worse still, contaminated water can lead to serious financial turmoil and potentially even put you out of business if you release a shipment of contaminated goods.
How CMMS Software Can Help With Water Filtration Efficiency
Now that you know what CMMS software is and why water filtration systems are so important, let’s look at how the two work together to improve water filtration efficiency.
Improved Maintenance Scheduling
The biggest reason to use a computerized maintenance management system with water filtration is to improve maintenance schedules. Before CMMS, maintenance managers performed maintenance tasks based on recurring schedules or rules of thumb. For example, if an instruction manual says to replace a cartridge filter every three months, they would do it regardless.
However, water filtration systems require regular maintenance or replacement based on their performance. In other words, your system may require maintenance more or less often than every three months, depending on the quality of the water it’s filtering and how hard it’s working. CMMS software improves your ability to schedule maintenance activities, leading to better asset management.
Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts
The second main benefit of CMMS software with water filtration is that it offers real-time data about how your filtration system works. This can help your maintenance team know when to perform proactive maintenance operations, and your facility manager know if an issue with the filtration system requires immediate repairs.
Improved Predictive Maintenance
Although CMMS software isn’t psychic, it does an excellent job of predicting when maintenance will be needed. Also known as predictive maintenance, knowing when preventative maintenance is needed helps with scheduling and budgeting. Depending on your filtration systems’ consistency, you can even create maintenance schedules months or years in advance.
Inventory Control and Management
As a byproduct of knowing when you need to perform each preventive maintenance process, you will also have better inventory control and management. This happens because your water filtration systems and the equipment they protect will last longer and have fewer breakdowns. Here’s how CMMS can improve inventory control and management:
- Fewer unnecessary preventive maintenance activities
- Less equipment downtime
- Less contamination during production leading to waste and loss
- Not as much turnover with your water filtration systems and equipment
Cost Efficiency
At the end of the day, the main goal of industrial and production facilities is to turn a profit. If CMMS and water filtration system integration isn’t going to help you make money in some way, there’s no reason to do it. Luckily, a CMMS system will improve cost efficiency in several ways:
- Fewer equipment repairs
- Reduced risk of contamination leading to a public health emergency
- Helps you maintain regulatory compliance
- Improves the overall workflow of your filtration systems
Energy Efficiency
Another way that CMMS helps you save money on water filtration is by improving energy efficiency. Timely maintenance operations and repairs will help water flow through your filtration systems more smoothly. As such, they won’t have to work as hard and use as much energy as they otherwise would, leading to a lower energy bill and a reduced carbon footprint.
Enhanced Communication
Finally, CMMS will help you and your maintenance teams communicate more clearly and effectively. You will all have access to the same data about your filtration systems. As such, there is less risk of miscommunication and misunderstandings since you all have the same information.
Integrating CMMS Software With Other Water Filtration Methods
While computerized maintenance management systems can greatly reduce maintenance costs and make a world of difference for your maintenance teams, it doesn’t actually manage a filtration system. It’s merely a cloud-based or on-site data entry and storage mechanism that stores important data.
As such, you need to combine CMMS with physical filtration systems, such as ozone treatment, cartridge filters, reverse osmosis systems, and more. When you integrate CMMS software with each of these water filtration systems, you will streamline your maintenance processes and have a more efficient maintenance planning system.
Mark Ligon is the Marketing Manager at Commercial Filtration Supply, a provider of industrial filtration products at discount prices. Mark enjoys writing about various liquid filtration applications, and he believes educating customers on liquid filtration best practices ensures they have the best experience possible with the product they decide on.