The HydroPower family product line from Unger has just grown by one with the new introduction of the HydroPower RO.
With the HydroPower DI and its proven field performance together with the achievement of The Cleaning Show 2015 Innovation Award, it was only natural that Unger would turn its attention to RO. Unger R&D have looked into how they could simplify the management of an RO system.
The main important element to the HydroPower range has always been about value for money, saving time and flexibility.
A lot of window cleaners can relate to the messy and difficult, lengthy time it takes to scoop out old resin from a DI tank, clean out and refill ready for work. HydroPower DI helped to eliminate that making the changing and filling of DI resin so simple and clean with revolutionary QuickChange resin bags.
The real beauty in the way that Unger goes about product innovation has always been centred on making a task as easy as possible for the operator/user or the business owner and their staff. ‘Plug and go’ systems have always proven popular and appeal to the wider market. No longer do you need to have a PhD in water purification in order to understand how to make pure water with RO/DI. Those with limited or next to no knowledge can be up and running straight away.
There are many issues that can surround the use of an RO/DI system such as maintenance, water quality and supply and if your business relies on employees to tap into some of that, how do you know they are going to look after the system as well as you?
We all know that flushing the RO membrane regularly improves the life of the RO filter. Advice on regularity changes from window cleaner to window cleaner. We would actually recommend a 10 to 15 minute flush before each fill!
But when this activity is the responsibility of a staff member, it is easy at the end of a night to skip maintenance steps. One night skipped can turn into most nights skipped before you know it. If that becomes the norm then the employer may find that changing out a very expensive RO filter is happening more often than he would like.
No one will ever own up to not carrying out the proper maintenance. “It must be a problem somewhere else, maybe it’s a bad batch?”… You might hear.
Even owner operators can get lazy. Before you know it, your system is not performing to the best it can and your customers start complaining about the spots and streaks you are leaving on their windows. It’s a problem. Flushing an RO system is such an important aspect of maintenance that is grossly overlooked.
Unger’s new HydroPower RO takes care of all that and more. There are so many features and some great computer programming bringing this unit together that we will try and cover as much as we can in this article.
The HydroPower RO took a long time to come together; its main focus was to provide smart assistance with easy maintenance. This compact but powerful unit kicks out 400 litres of pure water per hour and up to three window cleaners can use the system simultaneously out in the field working at heights up to 65 feet. It has 3 stages of purification, Carbon –Pre-Filter that removes sediment and chlorine from the in coming tap water. The water is then forced through two RO membrane filters that will remove 98% of dissolved minerals and contaminants. Wastewater is ejected as the low TDS water goes through a final resin ‘polishing’ stage for 100% pure water.
Changing the filters could not be any easier with a Fastlock opening system. Simply twist the lid to unlock and draw out the filter. Filters can be changed in minutes and
the filters are made of a premium quality thermoplastic, protecting them from accidental damage. The unit itself is protected by a robust design utilising a heavy-duty stainless steel frame.
Now here’s the clever nerdy stuff. The HydroPower RO uses intelligent assistant technology that helps to eliminate guesswork from the filter performance and maintenance. And no, it is not called Number “Johnny” Five (Movie ref: Short Circuit); it is actually called RO SMARTGUARD. Number 5 was taken.
RO SMARTGUARD is the on board monitoring system that includes self-maintenance technology. Remember when we talked about employee’s failing to carry out the RO flushing maintenance earlier? Well this tech sorts that problem out with automatic flush functions before and after use! This unit is particularly employee proof.
It even tells you if employees bypass flushing stages. The proof is in the data read out.
On starting up the system the concentrated water surrounding the filters is diverted to the waste outlet for 1 minute automatically avoiding the resin filter that would help to extend its life. Automated notifications to order or replace parts allows for uninterrupted workflow with easy to understand graphics on the colour LCD display. There is also a built in protection against a system malfunction from insufficient water flow or pressure.
When you turn on the system there is an initialising phase that takes around 2 minutes. At this stage the LED display is reminding the user to connect all hoses and water supply. Using the buttons on the panel you can switch the LED display between filters where information such as litres per minute, TDS readings for in and out is displayed.
RO SMARTGUARD continually tracks the performance of all the filters and alerts the user to any change in the optimal performance. How many times have you discovered that the TDS level (Total Dissolved Solids) of your pure water has increased to an unacceptable level? And how many times has the customer complained of ‘spotting’ left on the glass and it is this that has brought your attention to a higher TDS unacceptable reading? With the RO SMARTGUARD technology inside the HydroPower RO, an alarm sounds to alert the user that the water quality is rising from 0ppm. Neat hey?
The system instructions are in 6 different languages and there are 6 USB ports for software updates. With bright colour coding, and simple to follow instruction and graphics along with the RO SMARTGUARD tech we see this system used both in the field and used as a ‘plug and go’ attachment for a static system.
The cost isn’t cheap as you would expect coming in at around the £4,500 mark, however, if you are the type of person that like a quick set up, plug in and go, employee proof, quick filter change system, then this is the system for you. Unger make quality products that are trusted worldwide. Some distributors are offering finance packages to soften the blow.
When you turn on the system there is an initialising phase that takes around 2 minutes. At this stage the LED display is reminding the user to connect all hoses and water supply. Using the buttons on the panel you can switch the LED display between filters where information such as litres per minute, TDS readings in and out is displayed.
Learn more: Check on the playlist below and see this product in action for yourself.