Win, Win Swimming Situation

With water and energy savings in the region of £34k per year and a reduction in water consumption by 90%, Defender Filters offered a win, win, situation for the modernisation of a 40 year old plant room at a leisure centre in Canterbury, Kent. Not only is the Kingsmead Leisure Centre more energy and cost efficient, visitors are already reaping the benefits of improved water quality following the plant room upgrade this summer. Opened in the mid Sixties, and run by Active Life for Canterbury City Council, Kingsmead offers a wide range of activities for all ages and abilities in a safe, friendly and professional environment.

The three swimming pools at the site are:

• • Main Pool 32 1/3m x 0.95m x 3.81m deep, 29°C approx.
• • Teaching Pool 0.79 to 0.94m depth, 29°C approx.
• • Beach Pool 0-0.82m depth, 32°C approx.

With Defender Filters, the energy required to re-heat cold make up water is reduced dramatically and because the water is filtered down to 1 micron, the water is cleaner so needs 30% less chemicals. The size of the new filter was compact enough to be installed into the existing space, essentially, allowing the re-fit to be carried out behind the scenes without the need for an extended shut down period. While the old filters could remove particles down to 5-7 microns the new Defender Filters remove particles to less than one micron, eliminating the need for regular backwashing and the associated water wastage. The fully automated systems drastically reduces the labour required to carry out the backwash procedure allowing the maintenance team to focus on more customer focused issues which again improve the facility experience of the public.

“The Defender Filters met our requirements in providing energy and water savings whilst improving water quality in our facility,” comments Philip Kiss, of Canterbury City Council.

MINIMISE COSTS

“It was the obvious choice and offered the solution to the challenge we had set ourselves, which was to minimise costs and increase profitability whilst improving the facility. “Since the Defender Filter has been operating from June this year, our customers have noticed a change in the water quality of the pools,” he added. Canterbury City Council colleague, Colin Pengelly echoed that: “The savings provided, improves the effectiveness of the council’s subsidy to Active Life, allowing more freedom to concentrate on running the facility and improving the experience for the visitors.” Installed in numerous facilities worldwide producing a quality of water that far surpasses alternative forms of pool filtration, Defender Filters are now available to commercial pool venues throughout the UK.