A defined water-quality basis
Twelve client-provided indicators established the design basis, covering pH, turbidity, conductivity, hardness, alkalinity, chloride, iron, sulfate, ammonia nitrogen, COD, bacteria and organic phosphorus.
Water Treatment
Cooling Water Treatmentfor an AI data center.
Starting with the client’s outlet-water requirements, EFMC coordinated process engineering, electrical automation, civil and piping works, data-center-side interfaces, construction and commissioning as one turnkey cooling-water treatment project.
Water-quality-led designUF + RO processElectrical automationTurnkey integration
IndustryWater Treatment
12
Design water-quality indicators
4 disciplines
Integrated engineering scope
01
Client requirement
The project began with water quality, but it could not end with process equipment alone.
The client needed a complete cooling-water treatment system for an AI compute facility. The treatment process had to meet the specified outlet-water criteria and connect cleanly with power, controls, buildings, pipelines and the operating data center.
Several disciplines, one interface
Process design, electrical automation, civil works and piping could not be developed as isolated packages; equipment footprints, utilities, signals and tie-in points had to agree before construction.
A system ready to operate
The required endpoint was not separate skids or drawings. It was an integrated installation that could be commissioned, monitored from the supervisory system and handed over as a working plant.
02
Design basis
Client water-quality criteria became engineering inputs, not a note added after design.
The supplied outlet-water schedule defined twelve parameters. The values below are selected design criteria from that schedule, not claims of field-test performance.
At 25°C
pH range: 6.5–8.5
Specified design outlet-water range.
Outlet-water criterion
Turbidity: 3 NTU
Design value supplied for process selection.
At 25°C
Conductivity: 400 μS/cm
Specified electrical-conductivity design value.
Outlet-water criterion
Total iron: 0.3 mg/L
Specified total-iron design value.
As CaCO₃
Calcium hardness: 100 mg/L
Specified calcium-hardness design value.
As CaCO₃
Total alkalinity: 200 mg/L
Specified total-alkalinity design value.
03
Turnkey delivery path
One delivery chain connected the first water-quality requirement to final operation.
EFMC organized the project as a continuous engineering and delivery sequence. Each stage produced the conditions needed by the next, reducing gaps between design documents, fabricated equipment, site interfaces and operating logic.
01Turnkey project stage
Define requirementsTranslate the client’s water-quality criteria, cooling demand and site interfaces into a coordinated design basis.›02Turnkey project stage
Engineer the systemDevelop treatment process, equipment layout, electrical distribution, control architecture, civil works and piping together.›03Turnkey project stage
Fabricate and assembleBuild treatment skids and automation panels against the approved interfaces before site installation.›04Turnkey project stage
Construct on siteExecute the treatment workshop, electrical and control installation, piping works and data-center-side construction.›05Turnkey project stage
Integrate and commissionConnect field equipment, instruments, PLC logic and supervisory screens, then verify operation as one system.›06Turnkey project stage
Run and hand overPlace the completed installation into operation and hand over a visible, controllable and maintainable water-treatment plant.
04
Integrated engineering
Process, layout, power, controls and fabrication were resolved as one engineered system.
The design package coordinated plant footprint, equipment arrangement, main electrical circuits and automation interfaces before work moved to the site. Fabrication then followed the same system boundaries used in the drawings.
01 / General arrangement
Plant Layout and Equipment Footprints
Equipment, tanks, operating clearances and service areas were coordinated in the workshop layout before construction.
02 / Electrical automation
Power Distribution and Control Design
Pumps, treatment equipment and auxiliary systems were incorporated into a documented electrical and automation architecture.
03 / Equipment fabrication
Process Skid Fabrication
Membrane housings, pumps, valves and manifolds were assembled as maintainable process units before delivery.
04 / Panel assembly
Automation Panel Assembly
Distribution, control and signal components were organized into the panel that would connect field devices with supervisory control.
05
Data-center-side construction
The treatment plant was connected to real cooling infrastructure, not delivered as an isolated package.
Site work extended beyond the treatment workshop. Pipe routes, terminal connections and heat-rejection equipment on the AI compute side had to align with the water plant, construction sequence and final control strategy.
One delivery scope connected water preparation, compute-side circulation and rooftop heat rejection.
06
Completed treatment plant
Each subsystem was completed as part of one maintainable water-treatment workshop.
The finished installation brings pretreatment, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, dosing, chemical cleaning, pumping and operations into a coordinated plant environment with clear access around major equipment.
01 / Ultrafiltration
Ultrafiltration Train
Parallel membrane modules form the front-end separation stage and connect to automated production and cleaning routes.
02 / Reverse osmosis
Reverse-Osmosis Treatment
The RO stage follows ultrafiltration and provides the principal dissolved-solids treatment step in the documented process.
03 / Dosing
Integrated Chemical Dosing
Dedicated tanks and metering pumps support the chemical conditions required by the treatment and water-supply processes.
04 / Cleaning and pumping
Cleaning and Pumping Support
Cleaning circuits and pump equipment were installed alongside the main trains to support operation and maintenance.
05 / Integrated workshop
A Plant Built for Access
The completed workshop organizes major treatment units, circulation paths and maintenance access as a single operating environment.
07
Walkthrough
The finished plant, walked end to end.
A single pass through the completed workshop — pretreatment, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and the dosing skid, in the order the water moves through them.
Pretreatment → Ultrafiltration → Reverse osmosis → Dosing → Supply
08
Supervisory automation
Operators can see the complete process instead of managing separate equipment islands.
The supervisory system separates the process into ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, dosing and supply views while keeping operating states visible on a shared status panel. Field devices, valves, pumps, tanks and key process readings are represented in the same control environment.
01 / Ultrafiltration view
Production, Backwash and Tank Status
The screen presents the UF flow path, pump and valve states, water levels and selected operating values.
02 / RO view
Two-Stage RO Process Visibility
Operators can review feed conditions, membrane-stage routing, production flow, conductivity and tank status from one screen.
03 / Dosing view
Dosing Equipment Status
Dosing tanks, mixers and metering pumps are presented by process function, with automatic and manual states visible to operators.
04 / Supply view
Storage and External Supply
Tank levels, transfer pumps, external supply pressure and conductivity complete the visible path from treatment to use.
05 / Operations station
A Working Operations Interface
The finished operations station places the integrated process display in the environment used for daily supervision.
Project outcome
A cooling-water requirement became a complete, operating treatment system.
The completed scope combines the treatment workshop, UF and RO trains, chemical dosing, cleaning and pumping systems, electrical automation, supervisory visualization and data-center-side cooling connections. Because the package contains design criteria but no formal commissioning test report, this case describes the delivered architecture and visible operating system without adding unsupported performance claims. The result is a coordinated plant delivered around the client’s requirements rather than a collection of independently supplied components.
From the first water-quality target to the final operating screen, one team remained responsible for the whole system.
