High TDS in Water Clogging Pipes

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Is there an efficient solution to overcome clogging due to high TDS?

One of our clients in Chennai has total dissolved solids TDS=1200 mg/l.

The desirable limit by World Health Organization ( WHO) is 500 mg/ l and the permissible level is 2000 mg/l. 

They are using the water for day to day use and their pipes get clogged within one or two years.

Is there any effective solution to overcome clogging due to high TDS?

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31 Answers

  1. Dear Moorthy, please see our products information at www.hydrosmart.com.au  if you wish to solve the issue for the long term and sustainably with our electronic frequency technology it will target bonds of all minerals and compounds and dissolve away old blockage /prevent new as long as there is some fluid flow through the pipe.

  2. Is there scale formation in the pipes? I can suggest a non-toxic and bio-degradable descaler which I have been using here in Australia.

    However, long term, I suggest an aeration and mechanical flocculation and/or filtration strategy.

    Do you know what the TDS consists of? Are they organic or inorganic? This is important to know what strategy to choose.

    Please email me at andrew@waterandoilsolutions.com.au 

  4. We have high TDS in much of our groundwater here in Saskatchewan, Canada and the most effective option that is guaranteed to remove TDS is nano filtration.  We have tried traditional methods but in the end, nano filtration will drop your TDS to nearly 5 ppm or lower every time.  Mind you, we usually have a pre-treatment process upfront depending on the water source.  For example if the water source is groundwater we have a Manganese Greensand filter in front of the NF filters and in front of the NF filter right before the high pressure pumps we always install 5 micron filters to capture any large particles that somehow found their way through.  And of course we install an ORP sensor to make sure that KMnO4 from the Greensand filters does not enter the NF filters....it is very complicated process and I can go into much more detail if you wish.  And if the water source is surface water the pre-treatment that I choose is dependant on the water chemistry and again if you want more details please let me know as my response will be very long otherwise.

  5.  Dear  Moorthy Prakash ;

    I have patented  low cost solution for your problem i it is calcite deposited (scale formation inside the pipes). I have applied many water supply scheme in Nepal. But for confidential answer i need water  quality report especially  pH ,TDS, alkalinity , temperature  and hardness report. Is there spring sources within 50 m of your intake?   I think it should be .Pls be in contract to my email : pandeyhari@gmail.com or      mobile viber  009779851121322

     Hari Prasad Pandey  Neopal 

  6. You can try "up flow filtration system" to filter ​large particles ​or aggregates, ​such as sand ​and clay, ​before letting ​the water enter ​the emitters. ​ Hope this may help you if it is about sand or clay.

  7. G7Water is also antimicrobial and offers additional oxygen and hydrogen generation in the water do these attributes assist aerobic cell structures very well. Ph is altered .2 to .4 in many instances.

  8. Before suggesting a solution you need to know what is the composition of the TDS ("dissolved solids"). What is the composition of the pipe (PVC, metal, clay, et. al.)?  If the pipes are clogged what is the material that is occluding the pipe walls restricting flow--has it been analyzed? Is it possible that this is a bio-slime and not a dissolved solid that is adhering to the walls due to polarity and plating out?  As with any problem knowing the root causes can only be determined with additional analytical data as suggested in some of the answers below "guessing" at solutions.

  9. Another way is to use the G7Water Catalyst as a passive function is ionizes most minerals and has shown to actually remove those that are choking a pipe or water heater/boiler over time. Please see data at http://www.G7water.com     Over 16 years of field use with hundreds of applications and happy customers.

  10. Dear Moorthy,

    The clogging of the lines due to sedimentation of the large particles and high PH, due to low velocity of the fluid and PH to be maintain near about 7.

    2.Design proper diameter of the pipe so that maintain proper velocity.

    Acid injection, to reduce irrigation water pH, can prevent chemical clogging of drip emitters.

    3. Filter large particles or aggregates, such as sand and clay, before letting the water enter the emitters.

    4. Eliminate microorganisms by proper disinfection and water treatment
    5. Prevent sedimentation of chemicals in the irrigation system by adjusting pH levels, monitoring 

    6. The analysis of the biological, chemical and particles content of the water plays a major role in choosing appropriate prevention measures.

    7. To  avoid sharp bend in pipe as shown in the fig.

    8. To avoid  scaling in the pipe, slowly pipe dia will reduced and causing clogging.

     

  12. Following is suggested:

    (1) Keep Ph of the system between 7.7-8.0.

    (2) Keep dosing Sulfuric Acid to maintain Ph.

    (3) Dose Chlorine or Hypochlorite to avoid clogging in pipes.

    (4) Use Continuous slip filtration by adding Sandex filters.

    (5) Check Yr performance of Heat Exchangers ( Plate/Shell and tube Type).

    (6) Check performance of Your Cooling Tower. Excess in and out water also creates deposit and clogging of pipes.

    (7) Pl. contact Yr Service provider like M/s NALCO etc for even better solution.

  13. Hi Moorthy

    Something can be done with hydraulic maintenance. Critical parts of pipe network are dead ends and sections with low velocities. Maintenance staff should regularly fully open hydrants on mentioned places and sections and wash away deposits from the pipes. Of course we don't know the composition of this deposits. If it is hard incrustation, rinsing would not satisfie. The pipe material is also important. Steel pipes can be clogged with deposits of iron bacteria (if present in water intake).

     

    Regards

    Davor

  14. Most cost efficient method is to install Magnetic field unit in the flow of water at the very earliest stage.

  15. Murthy,

    You are at Chennai so I expect high salinity in your water. High salinity will cause both high corrosion of steel pipe and possible deposition. Corrosion products which high volume will clog the pipes and eventually lead to leakages. You need to analyze the water quality and the depositions inside the pipe. As already mentioned water softener will reduce TDS but water will become more corrosive. The transport pipes/distribution pipes can be changed to non-metallic such as GRP/CPVC etc

  16. Hi Moorthy if you look up www.hydrosmart.com.au iyou will see t is in use in India already on scaled up plumbing projects for homes and apartments with good scale removal, prevention and water softening properties all created by its simple to apply at point of entry resonance frequency approach.

    Used in Australia the past 2o years on a massive range of applications with proven success 

    1 Comment

  17. Hello, Moorthy,

    Regarding to clogging，pipe renewal is possible solution, which is most expensive at any place and time. Forget it!

    Economically, in order to reduce TDS, we should improve water treatment process rather than focus on pipe system. 

    BR,

    Wu Hao

  18. Relacing  the  corrosion  resistant  ,smooth  surface   pipe  for that ,  the  good way  is  to pretreat  the  water ,  then  make  RO plants at  other end      .. TDS 1200mg/L  is  really  not  good  for  health 

  19. Are you using chlorine,calcium and magnesium are the cause of hardness in water,chlorine can effectively treat hardness in water,monitor your Ph and alkalinity

  22. Have you thought about using high power magnets?  This will keep the magnesium and calcium from clogging the pipes.

  23. Good Morning.  In addition to the excellent responses below for obtaining a water analysis, many parts of India have high silica content.  Include silica in your water testing.

    Warmest regards,

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  25. Hi Moorthy!, Nice to meet you.  Are you sure the clogging is due to TDS? Generally the clogging by TDS is due to the crystallization of calcium and magnesium salts in the internal walls of pipes and equipment.  If that is the problem the best easiest and cheapest way to overcome it is by installing a water softener (with an ion exchange resin) before the water entrance to the piping you want to protect.  But before that, you have to be sure that the clogging is not because of suspended solids because to use water softener method, the water must be perfectly clear with very low TSS, and if you are adding chlorine to the water you must do it after the water pass the resin. Another option is reverse osmosis but is much more expensive and you waste a lot of useful water in the process. I think use of chemicals is not a safe option at all, as you told they are using this water for day to day use. To determine the size of the water softener you have to analyze the water in order to know the real composition of the TDS and mostly the real amount of calcium and magnesium.

  26. Dear Moorthy Prakash ,

    TDS = Total Dissolved Solids , and it does not say anything about the perticipation tendency or scaling formation. So, you have to find the water analysis in order to verify the reason of scaling formation.

    Usually (as LSI index informs) scaling is due to high Calcium and Magnesium concentration (water hardness). These ion salts are forming unsoluble salts which perticipate when the water temperature rises (during summer mainly).

    Concerning that, in order to avoid pipe clogging, you could install the water pipe lines much deeper into the ground, where the temperature is more stable and lower .

    Best regards.

  28. The best way to determine whether the TDS have a tendency to precipitate inside the pipeline is by calculating the so-called LANGELIER's INDEX. If this index is positive then the water has the tendency to precipitate.

    In order to calculate this index you need to have a complete chemical analysis. There are sites in the web that can calculate the index automatically provided you have input the required values.  

    1 Comment

    1. ....in addition to what already told; temperature is another important factor to predict aggressive or scaling behaviour of the water, along with - as told- a complete water analysis (TH, M-alk, SO4, Cl, pH..).
      TSS value (along with TDS) could help: sometimes settling of TSS is caused by weak hydraulic design and TSS settling confused with TDS deposition... but this is another story!

  29. Hi Moorthy, It depends on the actual ions making up the TDS.  It sounds as if their water is hard (has a high calcium and magnesium content).  During the treatment process the water should be stabilised (i.e. ensure the Langelier index is correct to give a pHs that is just slightly over-saturated). This is done  through the use of lime and/or carbon dioxide or another acid.  If the water is from a borehole with no prior treatment, they can test the hardness and if necessary adjust the pH to make it less scale forming.  Using plastic pipes also helps to reduce scaling, or regular flushes with an acidic water.  If the clogging is from gypsum scale (calcium sulphate), this is more difficult to prevent and may require either a reduction in the calcium or the sulphate levels.  Best wishes in dealing with this.

  30. High TDS in itself will not clog pipes.

    However, if the high TDS water has a high pH, then depending on the constituency of the salts, some may precipitate out and attach to the inside of the pipe.

    One way to counter this is to raise the pH of the water continuously with an acid injection and that's costly!

    Another less effective method is to dose the pipe with hydrochloric acid solution overnight and "pig" the pipe next day, then flush. This is not totally effective, and needs to be done regularly.

    Neither option is pleasant!

    I know of a golf course which uses recycled water with high TDS and high pH. Its got to the point of abandoning the irrigation system as its totally blocked from salt deposits. The cost to acid inject continuously is too high. Total disaster.

  31. What is the composition of the TDS?

    1 Comment