VFD s found in water and waste water treatment stations tend to be larger horsepower VFD s, and are sometimes medium voltage type VFD s. EMA has a number of customers in the water and waste water treatment field. We routinely supply new drives (including medium voltage VFD s), and repair existing drive equipment (low and medium voltage) .

I’ve told this story often to friends that are unfamiliar with water and waste water treatment facilities. I was called to a Midwestern site some years ago following the site being completely flooded by the Missouri River. This riverside treatment station was completely underwater during the flood. I walked into an area, where wastewater had backed up, and waste water “stuff” was covering the walls, hanging from the ceiling, and pushed into piles around the floor. The smell was terrible.

Over in one corner, several workers had a card table set up, a coffee plot plugged in, and a box of doughnuts sitting there. One of the workers, with a mouth full of doughnut, said, “you want something to eat?” I couldn’t help but start laughing, and replied “buddy, it’s all I can do right now not to throw up.”

Needless to say, servicing drives in that kind of environment is not for the weak of stomach. Fortunately, the environment in modern plants is much improved, and service calls on water and waste water VFD s and Drives is a much more pleasant experience. Make no mistake about it, these are critical facilities. If you don’t believe it, let one get damaged. Raw sewage will simply flow into the nearest waterway and create an immediate health crisis. In the case of water treatment.. you’ll be boiling your drinking water.

The Variable Frequency Drives, DC Drives, and other motor control equipment used in the water and waste water treatment plants are very important to the health and quality of life of the community they serve. Much of the time the VFDs found in water and waste water treatment stations have redundancies and one VFD down does not shut down the facility. However, these are still considered critical applications that require prompt VFD Repair and Service.

You still find DC Drives running Centrifuges in waste water facilities. Essentially, they use these to de-water the sludge left over from the treatment process. Newer units use Vector Drives in lieu of the DC Drives. We get calls to repair both DC drives and VFD Vector Drives in these facilities.

Most of the VFDs control pumps. The larger horsepower VFD s will be medium voltage VFD s. You’ll find Allen Bradley, Robicon (Siemens), Toshiba, and ABB medium voltage VFD s in these facilities. EMA repairs medium voltage VFDs, and works on all these brands. (See our blog page for some recent examples)

The Water and Waste Water Treatment VFD repair business is not limited geographically. EMA routinely supplies VFDs and Repairs them all over the United States. On the larger horsepower VFDs, and especially the medium voltage VFDs, we often perform preventive maintenance. That can be especially helpful because parts often have long lead times, and the PM can spot problems before they actually shut a unit down.

We enjoy water and wastewater VFD service, we do a lot of it, and are looking for more. Contact your nearest EMA facility as listed at the bottom of this page, or contact us via the various methods on the right. Let a friendly and competent EMA service tech help get your water or waste water VFD s, both low and medium voltage, back on line.

Eddie Mayfield