Our experts always go step by step for the successful commissioning of the AQUA4D® system. Correct and careful installation is essential for an effective result.

On March 2, 2020, Gebäudetechnik GmbH, owned by König, installed an AQUA4D®-FB 30 SR on the Marzili heating network in Bern. The system was installed in the groundwater supply line to the plate heat exchanger.

The electrician installs the external alarm with the grounding and power connection of the control unit. The electrician also installed a separate equipotential bonding system for the Marzili heating network.

Controls and adjustments made to the system

Our team, Head of International Animal and Building Technical Support, Markus Schwery, is checking and optimizing the system before it goes live on 3 March. Added an additional ground to improve the effect on the extraction shaft *.

AQUA4D system commissioning

After the adjustments, the AQUA4D system was put into operation on 6 March. To do this, we connected three TUs to the control unit and turned on the circuit breaker. The external alarm has not yet been activated at this point.

We rechecked the entire system with the help of a multimeter and esi24 electrosmog knife. Using two simulated states, we ensure that the device triggers the correct alarms. The AQUA4D system worked perfectly and responded with the correct alarm during our tests.

The electrician connected the control unit directly to the grid. Then we checked the grounding of all sanitary facilities. We also looked for stray currents with Esi24. We saw magnetic fields in the entire pipe network.

Electric fields could also be measured in the groundwater supply pipe in front of the SPs. To eliminate this, we installed additional grounding.

A new plate heat exchanger was installed on 23 March. We have also established a new foundation for this to eliminate electronic fields.

Control options

With this setup, we can control the efficiency using a variety of possibilities. An access is placed in the lines to allow endoscopy. Various parameters can be controlled with the help of an electronic water meter. On March 6, we documented the following values:

Systems maintenance

After AQUA4D systems are installed, they are absolutely maintenance free. The prerequisite for the highest possible performance is the continuous operation of the device. Even in the event of a power failure, no special measures are normally required. The device automatically returns to normal operating mode. If the device still remains in the "alarm" state, it is usually sufficient to disconnect the controller from the mains for a short time and then reconnect it. Alternatively, a reboot can be performed on the screen. More details can be found in the operating instructions.

* Here, to the Regulation on Protection Against Non-Ionizing Radiation (NISV) of the Federal Agency for Environment, Forests and Landscaping (FOEN) and the Swiss Gas and Water Association's brochure W10015 on electrical separation of water pipes and earthing systems (SVGW).

Climate Show 2019 will focus this week on emerging companies offering technologies and solutions for climate protection and sustainability in Lausanne, Switzerland. Aqua4D® was selected for the innovation competition within the “1000 Solutions” group held on Thursday, February 13th.

Unlike Aqua4D®, other innovative pioneers such as Climeworks, a Swiss CO2 capture technology, Ingelia, a Spanish biorefiner that turns waste into valuable products, and eSMART Technologies, which has a system to control energy consumption in the home.

Aqua4D® Marketing Director Javier Meyer presented the innovative technology to the panel. Special attention has been paid to the many sustainable benefits that technology can bring to irrigation systems, with many implications and benefits for food producers and the environment.

This technology saves substantial water (mostly in drought areas) and effectively controls nematodes, biofilms and lime without the use of chemicals. All of this is made possible by a device of minimum power that can be permanently connected to solar panels. The committee was impressed by the presentation and chose Aqua4D® as the winner in its category to reach the grand finals that week. Stay tuned for better news!

At the Swiss headquarters, we met Markus Schwery, the recently appointed head of technical support for animals and buildings, to learn more about this area of ​​Aqua4D®.

Q: How long have you been working with Aqua4D® and what brought you there?

MS: My previous job was to "run" an insurance company for which I was responsible for structural damage. I met Walter Thut (co-founder) ten years ago. Then I went to Planet Horizons Technologies for technical sales when the company was predominantly in the construction and livestock industries. I started out as a novice swimmer in cold water, but thanks to my own research, I learned a lot about the science of electromagnetism in the early years.

Q: You have recently been appointed as the Technical Support Manager for Animals and Buildings; what is this role?

MS: Most of the company's employees are dealing with irrigation today, but after 10 years of livestock and construction experience, I feel I played an important role in the development of the system, especially in terms of size.

Based on my own experience, I have also suggested some technical changes to increase the efficiency of the Aqua4D® system. This small change made a big difference.

Q: How did these changes make a difference?

MS: This made the electromagnetic field interaction more effective. We ran 50 different tests and found that our results were much more relevant, eg. in barns, where they want to get rid of corrosion and lime. It was an optimization of the system, in agreement with Nicolas and Charly (CTO). Later, they created a new prototype for the Better Processing Unit.

I also had the idea to raise the system's alarm instead of an LED light that would reduce system downtime. For example, in a large barn or farm, the system is often installed in a hidden location. The farmer can now be immediately notified of any downtime with a beep.

I find it interesting to further optimize the system this way. It is easier to do this at the customer's site because we can see how it works in practice. Customers were also interested in performing these optimization tests (this was a complementary service, but also an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships). We have achieved very good results that helped open up new markets. 

Image: Research of an industry publication with results of satisfied customers

Q: Most people today probably know Aqua4D® from its work on irrigation systems. Can you talk a little bit about these other areas you are responsible for: animals and buildings?

MS: The difference is that the focus in these industries is to control corrosion, scale, and biofilm that get into pipes. But we also have another problem because these buildings are often very large and diverse electromagnetic signals interfere with heating systems as well.

Buildings equipped with the Aqua4D® system are usually large homes or buildings of up to 100 flats. The Aqua4D® system is installed to remove scale and corrosion. Our system is both curative and preventive, meaning that we can clean old pipes in an old building as well as protect new pipe systems in new buildings.

As for animals, we have more experience raising chickens and pigs. We have also gained new experiences in barn and shrimp farming areas.

Shrimp farming in Switzerland?

Yes, we have achieved incredible results that helped reduce the death rate to below 5%. This was due to a number of problems: The water flow was too high (now we're moving to 50% of the previous flow). We also cleaned the piping systems from biofilms and various harmful bacteria. We changed the elements in biological filters and created denitrification. He used the same water for 4 years. Saltwater restoration is very expensive in Switzerland; It can be very expensive if you replace hundreds of cubic feet a year.

We installed the Aqua4D® system a year ago and the water quality is now much better. The shrimp farmer participated in an SRF broadcast this year where he explained the quality of his significantly improved water (Swiss television, link here, 5 minute recording).

Q: What do you think are the most important impacts the system can have on animal husbandry?

MS: It's definitely about biofilm, but also about pipe blockages from magnesium and calcium. For example, in Spreenhagen we work with Cobb / Wimex, one of the world's largest players near Berlin. We had two homes with exactly the same animals and conditions, and in the second, we found that there were 5% more hatching eggs in our system. With such high numbers, 5% makes a big difference. For example, if there are 11,000 additional eggs and each hatching egg costs 2.8 €, this is a significant advantage for the customer. The results were very positive for us. We did another test with them in Leipzig a year ago. Then they got great results and we set up another system. Cobb produces an average of 3 million eggs a day for global production. Hence a 5% increase is a significant advantage.

Animal