Problem

An international airport in the Middle East monitored sewage water flowing to its treatment station using an electromagnetic flow meter, but reported inconsistent readings. When a service technician inspected the meter, they found the liner had been damaged and needed to be replaced with a unit using a different lining material. Replacing it would have meant shutting down the line, draining the fluid, renting a crane, and swapping the meter — with the total cost, including at least a full day of lost line availability, far exceeding the price of the meter itself.

Application

The airport already had a Panametrics AquaTrans AT600 clamp-on ultrasonic flow meter running to their satisfaction in the chiller plant. Although initially hesitant to use a clamp-on meter on sewage water carrying 5% solids by volume, they installed an AT600 as a trial — since it could be mounted immediately without interrupting the line. After the trial, the airport was fully satisfied with the meter’s stability and accuracy, and plans to install additional AquaTrans units at the site.