Why Water Treatment is Important with the DewPoint Hay Steamer

The DewPoint hay steamers use a boiler and burner system to generate the steam needed to rehydrate dry hay.  Water treatment is important for both the efficiency and the longevity of your boiler.  Using softened or reverse osmosis treated water in addition to Dew Good, our boiler water treatment chemical, will ensure that the steel inside the boiler stays in good shape.

Using sound water treatment practices will also maximize the efficiency of the boiler on your steamer.  When water quality is poor, it can reduce the heat transfer of the fire tubes because of scale-buildup.  The reduced heat transfer also means that you will be spending more on fuel to turn the water into steam, so treating water also has an effect on the operating costs of the DewPoint machine.

Dew Good Water Treatment Chemical

Operators of the DewPoint machine should be using Dew Good chemical in addition to using a water softener or reverse osmosis system.  Staheli West offers Dew Good chemical in 55 or 15 Gallon drums.  Dew Good is also sold in an organic option for organic farms using the DewPoint steamer.

Dew Good has a number of purposes.  One of its purposes is to protect the bare steel inside the boiler by forming a thin layer on the steel to help protect against corrosion and scale.  It also has ingredients to scavenge the oxygen in the boiler to reduce rusting and corrosion as well as components that reduce boiler water foaming. Foaming becomes an issue when it carries over into the steam and therefore into the hay.  Dew Good, as well as other computer programing logic built into DewPoint machine itself, helps keep foaming from becoming an issue.

Dew Good should be dosed at a rate of 1 gallon of Dew Good to every 1,000 gallons of water.  Since the steamer holds 1,000 gallons of water in its tanks, simply add 1 gallon of Dew Good each time you fill up your DewPoint machine with water. Click HERE to watch a video on how to fill your machine with water and learn best practices on using our Dew Good induction valve to suck 1 gallon of Dew Good into the water tanks on the machine.

Using Water Softeners or Reverse Osmosis Systems

Using water softeners or reverse osmosis systems is important to reduce the hardness and impurities in the water which can cause scale buildup in the boiler. Scale buildup on the fire tubes of the boiler reduces the heat transfer from the fire tubes into the water to generate the steam.  This reduces the efficiency of the boiler and increases fuel consumption.

Staheli West helps all customers analyze the quality of their water by sending them a Culligan water test bottle with a prepaid label. Under the direction of your Staheli West dealer, you will collect the water sample(s) from your selected location(s) and ship the sample(s) to the test lab on the label. The test lab will analyze your water sample(s) and send a report to Staheli West. Then we will recommend the necessary water treatment equipment and send that recommendation to your dealer who will help you get the water softener, RO unit, or other recommended equipment from Staheli West.

Most sources of water require a Water Softening System to be installed. This will require:

• A culinary or other water source where there is a continuous pressurized supply of water
  available – 40 PSI minimum.
• A 120 VAC electrical outlet to operate the softener control system
• An enclosed, insulated area which is protected from freezing
• An area or drain where bypass water consumed in the softener re-charge process can be discharged

Some areas with lower water quality may require a Reverse Osmosis (RO) System to remove impurities from the water. This type of system will require:

• A culinary or other water source where there is a continuous pressurized supply of water available –
  40 PSI minimum.
• 240 VAC electrical service to operate the RO control and pumping system
• An Enclosed, insulated area which is protected from freezing
• An area or drain where bypass water consumed in the RO Flush process can be discharged

Water Storage and Transportation

Once you have your water softening or reverse osmosis system in place, it’s time to consider how you want to store your treated water so that you always have some available during your busy baling times.  We will cover this topic in an upcoming blog so stay tuned!

Conclusion