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Booth Water System Monitoring

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It is important to ensure that your paint spray booth water system is running properly. Many problems can occur  if the water system does not have the correct conditions, including the build up of paint solid sludge, clogging of the water re-circulation lines, and a decrease in overall efficiency of production. In order to assure the system is working well, there is a series of tests that can be completed.  Below you will find a list of chemical tests and their associated optimal conditions for your paint booth water system.

Optimal pH

    • 7.5 – 8.5 in a water-borne paint system.
    • 8.0 - 9.5 in a solvent-borne paint system.

Total Alkalinity

    • Should be maintained between 200 - 350 ppm in a water-borne system.
    • Alkalinity should be maintained between 1000- 2500 in a solvent-borne side-draft system.
    • Alkalinity should be maintained between 250 - 500 ppm in a solvent-borne downdraft paint booth system.

Total Hardness

    • Should be monitored between 50 - 150 ppm in a solvent-borne system.
    • Should be kept above 50 ppm in a water-borne system.

Conductivity

    • Ideally, conductivity should be maintained below 8,000 umhos. System blowdowns may be necessary to achieve this goal.
    • Paint booth system can be operated well with water conductivity >40,000 umhos, however, corrosion of the system will increase.

Total Suspended Solids

    • Ideally, 90 - 95% of the paint solids should be captured from both locations.

Percent of Paint Solids of the Captured Sludge

    • Sludge collected in a Palin or Hydropac should contain >20% solids.
    • Sludge off the Filter Tech should be >40% solids.

Biological Count

    • The biological count in these systems should not exceed 103 or 104.
    • Dip slides should be used to determine biological activity on a weekly basis.

 

If the chemical you are currently using to treat your paint over-spray is causing problems in your booth water system, click here to contact us about trying GreenFloc Natural Coagulants to solve your paint detackification needs. 

 

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