Maintenance

Maintenance should be proactive and involve a regular, preventative, maintenance programme, which enables early identification of problems. Equipment manufacturers’ maintenance instructions must be followed as a minimum requirement. Simple checks can be used to give forewarning of problems:

• daily (or more frequent) checks on the operation of disinfection equipment
• investigate the causes of dirty or discoloured water as it could be due to system failure
• regular cleaning of filters in line with the manufacturer’s recommendations
• routine site inspections to check for signs of pollution of the water source
• structural inspections of the treatment plant, storage tanks and pipework

Maintenance should always be performed by those deemed competent (trained and/or experienced and familiar with the equipment), ideally by the supplier’s servicing contractors. At the time a water treatment system is installed, the supplier should provide training on routine operation and maintenance tasks.