Wet 'n Hairy

We're mammals and we shed. We know this, plumbers know this, and the technical operators at the Wet 'n Wild Water Park in Orlando, FL, definitely know this.

The water amusement park has lots of water slides, among other amusements, and the operators for the park monitor water flow to both the slides and the return filtration system. Unfortunately for them, the paddlewheel flow sensors originally installed in the PVC pipelines kept running into problems because of hair in the water, especially hair that wrapped around the shaft and rotor of the sensors, nixing accurate flow measurement.

Measure water flow in a water park, in spite of hair in the water
Measure water flow in a water park, in spite of hair in the water

To address this, the operators replaced the paddlewheel sensors with GF Piping Systems' Signet 2550 insertion magmeters. Because the magmeters have no moving parts and are designed to measure flows containing lots of particulates, the presence of hair in the flow doesn't affect their ability to provide accurate readings. Furthermore, the devices can supply readings to a central display panel to aid maintenance. According to Bill Hamilton at Wet 'n Wild, "the 2550 insertion magmeter solved a long-standing problem of water flow measurement on our large slides."

Contact Dave Vollaire, GF Piping Systems, Tustin, CA; 800-854-4090, [email protected], www.gfpiping.com.