Flow-Tech Systems' chemical-free solution for scale and microbiological control is proving beneficial to the apple growing, storage, and packaging industries. Flow-Tech's water treatment technology is used at dozens of locations with apple processing applications—including Evans Fruit in Mattawa, Washington, where Flow-Tech was installed to control scale build-up on apples. By using Flow-Tech to treat the water used for irrigation, Evans Fruit was able to control scale without chemicals. The orchards irrigated with water treated by Flow-Tech yielded apples with suspended calcium that could be easily dusted off, as seen here. Julie Evans, in charge of Orchard Operations at Evans Fruit Company, said, "It has worked with the scale on the apples, but what has really impressed me is that we are now using less water to keep the apple trees healthy."
In addition to scale control, Flow-Tech is the only chemical-free system to meet ASHRAE protocol for biofilm control. This application was demonstrated when the system was installed on an approximately 4,000-gallon apple packing dump tank in Yakima, Washington. The customer's goal was to see if they could maintain or improve upon microbiological control in the tank and potentially reduce the amount of chemicals needed.
To test the effectiveness of Flow-Tech treatment, microbiological samples were taken twice a week. There was a spike in bacteria levels two days after treatment started. "This is consistent with the effect of Flow-Tech's signal," said George Rihovsky of Flow-Tech Systems. "The treatment dislodged biofilm present in the flume system. The readings from this water two days later were non-detect. By removing biofilm from the flume and pipe surfaces, the Flow-Tech signal helped the chlorine/acid treatment to dramatically reduce floating microorganisms." A month later, the customer reduced their chemical use, and microbiological levels continued to test at non-detect.
