Katronic’s KATflow 150 Advanced clamp-on flowmeter has gained approval through the UK Environment Agency’s MCERTS scheme for measurement of effluent and other wastewater flows in industrial and wastewater company applications after an extensive programme of testing both in the lab and on site.
WHAT IS MCERTS?
Companies that discharge waste into the air, sewers, rivers or the sea are subject to government controls that set limits on pollutant emissions. In England and Wales these levels are approved by the Environment Agency (EA), with flow being one of the parameters to be measured. To ensure that the effluent flow is measured correctly, measuring instruments and discharge devices must be approved through the EA’s MCERTS (Monitoring Certification Scheme) process. Although MCERTS has been applicable to industrial effluent discharges for many years, it is increasingly being applied in the standards of large water and wastewater companies, where flow is measured to sewage treatment plants and at the final discharge.
MCERTS FIELD TESTING
In a wastewater application at a large water and wastewater company in England, the KATflow 150 was tested on a vertical pipe. Time-stamped data was collected every 15 minutes and compared with an electromagnetic flowmeter also installed on the tube. Although the ‘instantaneous’ measurements accurately matched the reference meter, the KATflow 150 consistently recorded a lower total flow rate over a 24-hour period. The reason for this is that the Katronic flow meter measures bidirectionally, while the electromagnetic meter only measures in the forward direction and therefore lacks reverse flow when stopping the flow. With this accuracy, the KATflow 150 could help the operator save money in the case of cost-related flows, which the electromagnetic meter could not do.
