Case Study

TORRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL

THE CLIENT Torridge is a local government district in North , , with its Council being based in . Other towns and villages in the district include , , Hartland and Westward Ho! The the island of is administratively part of the district. To the South of the district bordering , near , the rugged coastline has a wild untouched beauty due to its inaccessibility, but the is well defined. The district is named after the .

Services provided by Council to the local community include the administration of Council tax and local benefits, transportation services, road maintenance, the provision of car parking services, the collection of refuse and the recycling of waste, planning and building control, housing services, the provision of sport and leisure facilities, libraries, schools, colleges, social care, health, environmental services, business-related services and contingency planning.

THE CHALLENGE

IU Energy won the tender for the replacement of twelve, 50kW gas Concord boilers and associated works at Torridge Pool. The main and learner pools enjoy much usage by the community - the general public, schools groups, including some which may be less capable or disabled, mother and baby. Access was always required for staff and the general public to the building during the entire contract period. Health and safety had to be guaranteed to the public and the installation team.

Work included the design, supply and installation of replacement heating system for the existing gas boilers. Given that this was public work, method statements were required for working at heights to install flues etc, plus the movement of and installation of heavy equipment, COSHH, lone working, gas systems and electrical systems. All standard for IU Energy.

The existing gas line had to be isolated, purged and disconnected by a suitably qualified engineer, all gas pipework above 1” diameter needed to be purged with nitrogen gas and otherwise with air, following the procedure laid down in The Institute of Gas Engineers IGE/UP/1 and 1A. Once safe, the plant needed dismantling and removing in sections, conforming to manual handling regulations. Case Study

THE SOLUTION

This was a highly complex project and involved much pre-planning and risk assessment. Ultimately it resulted in the specification, installation and commissioning of three extremely efficient, rack mounted 115kW Potterton Paramount 4 natural gas boilers totalling 345kW output and a replacement 200mm twinwall flue system.

This only goes a small way to describing the scope of the installation and integration work, which included extensive pipework, electrical work, expansion tanks, chemical dosing, digital automatic filling, system-wide remote control, heat exchangers and even groundworks – all too detailed to list here in a brief case study.

THE RESULTS

This huge project was completed to spec, on time and on budget, without restriction on the groups using the facilities. The work has resulted in many improvements -

Safer system Reduced running costs Improved redundancy Reduced C02 emissions

Increased system lifespan Improved overall reliability Reduced operations and maintenance

For more information on Torridge District Council, please visit www.torridge.gov.