Air and water filtration system inspections

Air and water filtration systems protect the people in your building and the equipment that serves them, but only when they are the right type, installed properly and maintained. We inspect your air filtration, water treatment and related equipment and tell you plainly what is working, what is not and what to do about it.

These systems tend to be out of sight. Filters get swapped for whatever is cheapest, bypass gaps open up around filter racks, cooling tower water treatment drifts, and backflow devices go untested. The results show up as dusty spaces, fouled coils, odour and comfort complaints, or in the worst case a water safety problem.

What we look at

• HVAC air filtration: filter type and rating, fit in the rack, bypass around frames, pressure drop, change intervals and storage of spare filters.
• Air handling equipment that affects air quality: outdoor air intakes, dampers, coils, drain pans and humidifiers.
• Cooling towers and evaporative equipment: physical condition, drift eliminators, water treatment, and whether a water management plan exists and is being followed.
• Domestic water treatment: softeners, sediment and carbon filters, UV units and reverse osmosis systems.
• Process and equipment water: filtration serving chillers, boilers and other plant.
• Backflow prevention devices: presence, type, condition and test records.
• Records: maintenance logs, water treatment reports and test certificates.

How it works

1. We start with why. Air quality complaints, a new tenant with sensitive operations, a cooling tower you inherited, or a request from an insurer or municipality each lead to a different scope.
2. Document review. We look at equipment lists, filter specifications, water treatment reports and any existing water management plan.
3. Site inspection. We inspect filter banks, air handlers, cooling towers, water treatment equipment and backflow devices, and take readings where instruments are installed.
4. Findings and priorities. We rank issues by health risk, equipment risk and cost.
5. Report and follow-up. You receive a written report and a walkthrough, and we can coordinate contractors and testers to close out the findings.

What you get

A written report describing each system, its condition and the gaps we found, with photos. It includes recommendations on filter selection and change practices, items to add to your maintenance plan, and where specialist testing or a licensed contractor is needed. If a cooling tower has no written water management plan, the report says so and explains what one should cover.

Because filtration problems often show up as symptoms somewhere else, such as dirty diffusers, short coil life or scale in water heaters, we connect each finding back to the equipment and spaces it affects. That makes it easier to explain the cost of a fix to whoever approves the budget, and to check later whether the fix worked.

Who it's for

• Facility managers responding to indoor air quality or water quality concerns.
• Owners of buildings with cooling towers or evaporative condensers.
• Healthcare, laboratory, food and education facilities with higher expectations for air and water.
• Property managers taking over a building with unclear maintenance history.

For background, see our guides on HVAC filters and MERV ratings, Legionella and cooling towers, water filtration for buildings and backflow prevention and testing.

Common questions