Level probes in water and wastewater applications
Throughout the water and wastewater sector, all kinds of water management systems are controlled by level probes.
Level probes in water treatment
As water is processed throughout the stages of gathering, storing and treating water resources, level probes are used to feed back data and control the process at each stage.
Level probes can be supplied in many forms from immersed float sensors to non-contact ultrasonic or radar probes. However, the most popular one is the submersible pressure transmitter due to its simple installation and use.
These submersible pressure transmitters, also commonly called level probes, are used for pump protection and to provide feedback on the level of the water in the resource, ensuring the pump maintains the correct level and does not run dry when no water is available, thus avoiding potential damage to the equipment.
Level probes in the form of submersible pressure transmitters are used in every stage of the water cycle, beginning with monitoring the level of water in deep bore wells (borehole monitoring) and the water level in reservoirs.
Applications in water treatment combine the water retention from the resource and the processing of the water to potable water standards. In each stage level probes will help to control and measure the level in buffer, storage and treatment tanks for water, water-treatment chemicals and potable water.
The treated, now potable, water is then pumped to local storage and high-level tanks or reservoirs. There level probes are used to control the pumps providing the water supply service by controlling the water level as necessary.
Level probes in wastewater treatment
Once water has been used, it is recovered as wastewater and level probes are used to control the wastewater level as it passes through the various stages of the wastewater treatment process.
The wastewater treatment process combines primary treatment, including screens and grit chambers, and the secondary treatment, including aeration and sedimentation basins or membrane bioreactors (MBR), to process the water until it is free of any contamination and may safely be returned to the natural resources such as rivers or groundwater.
Level probes and especially submersible pressure transmitters are a critical part of each of these processes to ensure that water does not overflow, that pumps do not run dry and that valves open and close as demanded, ensuring water is reliably available in the right place at the right time in the right quantity.