Protection from Cottonwood: What You Need To Know

Spring is officially here, and while many welcome the warmer weather, spring conditions can bring higher risks of contamination. (And no, we’re not just talking about allergens!)

One specific phenomenon, ‘cottonwood season,’ poses a particular risk for industrial operations using cooling towers, open loop systems, and other process fluid systems exposed to the outside air.

Cottonwood Season: The What, Where, and When

The eastern cottonwood tree, which is native to a large portion of the United States and parts of Canada, spreads using fibers that carry its seeds on the wind—hence the name ‘cottonwood.’ The resulting drifts of white fluff can be so dense that they look like out-of-season snow.

Cottonwood season typically starts later in the spring, beginning late in April or early May, and finishing in the early summertime. The amount of cottonwood seed and fiber can vary by year and based on environmental conditions. Occasionally, when conditions are right, a mast seeding event can result in much higher amounts of seeds and fluff than normal.

While all this cottonwood fuzz looks pretty innocent, for industrial operations near cottonwood trees, all that fibrous fluff can cause some pretty serious problems.

How Can Cottonwood Fluff Affect Your Industrial Operation?

The flurry of cottonwood seeds and fiber can cause major issues for industrial operations in the affected area, including:

• Blockage of Intake Screens & Filters: The floating cotton-like seeds can accumulate in water intake structures, clogging screens, filters, and grates, leading to reduced water flow and increased maintenance.
• Pump Damage: Accumulated seeds and debris can enter pumps, causing inefficiencies, overheating, or even mechanical failure.
• Irrigation System Blockages: In industries reliant on irrigation (e.g., agriculture, cooling systems), cottonwood debris can obstruct pipes and sprinkler heads.
• Increased Organic Load: Cottonwood fluff and seeds will decompose in water systems, increasing organic matter and contributing to algae growth and biofouling.
• Tannins & Chemical Leaching: Cottonwoods release natural tannins, which can alter water chemistry, potentially affecting industrial processes like chemical treatments or cooling towers.
• Scaling in Cooling Towers: Industrial cooling towers can experience fouling due to cottonwood seeds sticking to wet surfaces, reducing efficiency and increasing the need for chemical treatments.
• Fire Hazards: The highly flammable cotton-like seeds can accumulate in cooling systems, HVAC units, and other water-cooled industrial equipment, posing a fire hazard.

How Can I Prevent Cottonwood Season Damage?

Because the main threat of cottonwood season is particulate contamination from the cottonwood seeds, robust process filtration offers the best protection.

Schroeder Industries’ AutoFilt® filtration products excel in capturing large quantities of contaminants in process fluid streams, and the RF14 in particular is our expert recommendation for cottonwood contamination scenarios:

Schroeder Industries – AutoFilt® RF14

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• Automatic Back Flushing: Allows for virtually uninterrupted operation as the RF14 continuously filters process fluid stream, self-cleaning the filter baskets in just 4 seconds
• Maintenance-Friendly: Automatic back flushing eliminates manual basket cleaning, and pre-filtration can reduce maintenance requirements for downstream components
• Highly Effective Filtration: Rated for particulates as low as 10µm
• Meet Virtually Any Flow Requirement: Piping multiple RF14s in parallel can provide exceptional protection at virtually any flow rate required
• Proven Performance: Real-world success in a variety of applications, including cottonwood contamination removal

Don’t just take our word for it: Check out the case study below where a customer struggling with cottonwood fibers got back on track with an AutoFilt® RF14!

L-5133 Basket Based Back-Flushing Filter Clears Cottonwood from Cooling Water

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When a steel mill was experiencing frequent clogging in their equipment, forcing frequent and costly downtime to unclog nozzles and other components, Schroeder Industries identified cottonwood seeds and fluff as the culprit!

The customer’s cooling water supply was exposed to this cottonwood contamination through its cooling towers, which drew in enough fibers to cause serious clogging.

Fortunately, the AutoFilt® RF14 is designed for exactly this type of scenario, and was able to eliminate these service interruptions!

Here’s how the AutoFilt® RF14 helped this customer:

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RF14 Protects Cooling Water Quality

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Zero Cottonwood-Related Service Interruptions Since Install

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Improved Efficiency, Productivity, & Uptime

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