Tower Scour

An SBS Tower Scour is a centrifugal separator that filters a flow of liquid by using centrifugal force, without any filter media, to remove 50-micron and larger separable solids from a fluid stream.


How it works:

  • Centrifugal force and gravity simply & effectively drive the dirt out of recirculated water systems
  • Dirty water, driven by the circulating pump, enters the separator’s tangential inlet and is forced into a spinning action.
  • Spinning motion imparts centrifugal force, throwing the debris to the outside wall of the separator.
  • The friction of the flow rubbing against the steel body of the separator creates a “shear layer” of low velocity fluid allowing the debris to fall to the bottom of the separator.
  • The clean water travels through a vortex, out through the center discharge and back to the system.
  • Debris accumulates in the bottom of the separator until a time-actuated valve at the bottom of the separator opens and the debris is flushed to the sanitary sewer.

Where it works:

Simply pipe the Tower Scour Separator to the discharge side of your circulating pump. A Tower Scour is a full flow filter, with no need for side stream filtration. A simple splice into the existing piping and the Tower Scour is ready to work for you!

Tower Scours are used primarily in filtering cooling tower water, but they can be used in any fluid application with viscosity under 80 Seconds Saybolt Universal (SSU) to remove unwanted debris.  The debris is flushed out the bottom through a time activated valve.  In applications where the debris needs to be contained, the SBS Smart Filter and SBS Sludgebuster are attractive alternates.

SBS recommends the use of eductors to stir up the heavy debris towards the pump suction.


A Tower Scour virtually eliminates these three water maintenance concerns:

Solids Build Up
The very basis of heat dissipation employed by a cooling tower is evaporation. A cooling tower must evaporate 1.5% of the total flow for every 10° of cooling. Consider a 300 GPM system cooling a 10°F range. 1.5% of the flow translates to 6480 gallons of water evaporated per day. At a solids ratio of 150 parts per million, this evaporation loss leaves behind over 2700 pounds of lime, iron, sulfur, etc. per year. This debris will severely effect the cooling efficiency of the secondary heat exchangers as well as offering a safe haven to water borne bacteria, such as legionnaires’ disease. Tower Scour removes the solids and supplies a constant, metered blow-down to assure a clean, clear flow with minimum water use.

Airborne Debris
Cooling towers propel air through water to enhance evaporation. As this air travels through the tower, it is washed of most dirt, dust, pollen, etc. This debris ends up in the cooling tower system and eventually works to foul out cooling surfaces. This debris also harbors bacteria which also cause foul odors and severe metal corrosion. Tower Sour flushes dirt out of the system, eliminating “safe havens” for bacteria, without chemicals.

Chemical Usage
The chemical approach to bacteria control should be fraught with concern. Biocides are toxic chemicals which have been selected for their ability to kill living cells. Face shields, gloves, chemical aprons, etc. should be used whenever handling these materials. Tower Scour will greatly reduce or eliminate the need for chemical treatment. Simply piping in a Tower Scour Separator into the main circulating loop assures that 100% of your flow is centrifugally cleansed before the water goes to your cooling equipment. Through the use of a timer, the purge valve, located in the bottom of your separator, is opened periodically to flush the debris to the sewer. No more accumulated limes, iron, or odors. No more dirt to harbor dangerous bacteria. We all can live a little better with a lot less chemical involvement in our lives.


TOWER SCOUR cleans cooling tower water for less

  • Tower Scour can be spliced into any existing piping system. The only utility required for the purge valve is 120 volts and in some applications
    compressed air.
  • Tower Scour is a one-time capital expenditure. No chemicals, bags or cartridges to continuously replace. Tower Scour costs less per GPM than any other full flow cleaning system available.
  • Tower Scour costs less to operate because it’s only energy consumption is a small pressure drop. All the work is done by centrifugal force and gravity.