Hello,
I am at a coal fired power plant and we have theses huge circulating water pumps that run at about 500RPM's. Recently water got through the packing and was being introduce into the outboard bearing housing. This caused us to wipe a bearing and we needed to make the proper repairs. Is there anyway we could of avoided this problem.

Questions:
-Is there any automated way that water can be sensed and a valve will open and dump the water (would this be recommended)?
-Should a external slinger be used to redirect water that is riding up the shaft?
-Have you had similar problems and how was it resolved?

This is maybe what your looking for with regard to moisture early warning detection. Trico have the Hydrolert, check out the link Hydrolert Principles

How large are your bearing sumps? Is there a circulating system on your pumps?
There are slinger rings available from various suppliers that will help reduce water migration down the shaft. For a low cost solution an o-ring (1/4" or larger) will provide a high point to block the water and encourage it to fly off the shaft.
Another thing to look at is sealing. Do you use quality seals or just lip seals.

Fonz
In answer to your question (if you are in the USA) call for Mark Hill tel 717-697-8546 or: 717-697-8648
The problem can be solved with using an an EASZ-1 water in oil monitor, it has a response time of 1 second and will tell you exactly when a problem is occuring. They can probably also help you with the other control stuff or recommend how to do it without breaking your wallet