Handling the concentrated biocides, acids, caustics, inhibitors, and glycols that dosing and feed systems use. Many are corrosive, toxic, or react violently with each other.
Read the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for every chemical before handling it, and wear the protective equipment it specifies.
- Read the SDS. It lists the hazards, required PPE, first aid, incompatible substances, and spill response.
- Wear the specified PPE: eye protection at minimum, plus gloves, face shield, apron, or respiratory protection as the SDS calls for.
- Know where the eyewash and safety shower are, and check they work.
- Put spill containment in place before opening a container or line.
- Never mix chemicals, or reuse a pump, tube, tank, or container across incompatible products. Acid and hypochlorite together release chlorine gas.
- Label every tank and line with what is in it.
- Flush before changing product. Treat a line or pump as still containing the old chemical until it has been flushed, and check the new chemical is compatible with its materials. See Material Compatibility.
- Depressurize dosing lines before disconnecting them. Injection lines hold pressure and will spray. See Pressurized Systems.
- Isolate the pump electrically, not just in software. A pump that restarts while a line is open sprays concentrated chemical. See Isolating Equipment.
- Open joints slowly and away from your face.
¶ Spills, waste, and disposal
- Use secondary containment under tanks and feed equipment, so a leak or an over-pressurization cannot spill uncontained.
- Clean up spills according to the SDS and your site’s procedures, and report them to the appropriate authorities where the law requires.
- Dispose of process fluid and waste in line with applicable environmental regulations. Do not pour it down a drain unless you are permitted to.
Decontaminate equipment before returning it. Clean and decontaminate anything that has been in contact with process chemicals before shipping it back to a manufacturer or distributor.