Protecting Emergency Water Supplies at Phillips 66

Published on 24 July, 2017 at 12:55 pm

Case Study with Phillips 66 – Water Filled cover balls 2017

Phillips 66 had the age old problem of large water tanks which are used to store fire water in case of an emergency at one the largest UK Oil refineries.

These huge tanks measure 27.5 metres in Diameter with a surface area of around 650m2, but typically algae growth and duckweed clogs up the filtration systems and as the water stays still, it also stagnates.

After a conversation with the lovely folk at P66, the Water-Filled™ balls worked out the best viable option to prevent the growth on the water and after sending them our evidence on the wind tests (these babies really do withstand speeds in excess of 100 mph) they seemed pretty happy to order from us.

What did they want?

Shade cover balls to prevent Duckweed and Algae growth
Cover for Firewater storage tank 90ft (27.5m) diameter with an open top
Single layer, say 10% overage / spares
Contents – potable water, static, ambient temperature, say down to -11degC for freezing in winter etc
Design wind speed across top of water in tank 100mph (only on rare occasions)
Interested in the HDPE Self-Filling™ hollow balls and / or Water-Filled™ balls (for wind resistance)
UV resistant to some extent

Installation day

With our latest investment into new machines and capacity for the Water-Filled™ Balls, our factory managed to get these produced well within the time scales with just a 3 day turnaround and delivered the balls in large bulk bags which meant they could hook up with a crane and simply tip them up into the tank

Low maintenance

Another happy customer for Euro-Matic who reports there has been no further duck weed growth since the balls have gone in and they are looking forward to a maintenance free solution for many years to come