KEY2 Technology

We have always understood that Control is the Key in water treatment and this philosophy permeates our approach. An important question is “What is the key to Control?” and we work to address this with all of our clients. To help identify how better control can be achieved we have a number of solutions operating throughout our 4 product groups which together form our KEY2 offering.

Water Quality is the subject of close scrutiny and Water Hygiene is of particular concern.  Legionella continues to be found in water services and the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) requires a detailed Risk Assessment to minimise or eliminate the risk from this bacteria.  ACoP L8 goes on to detail the requirements of a monitoring and record keeping regime.

For many customers who are responsible for a large number of sites, the difficulties in ensuring that your systems are under control is well documented.  Efficient monitoring and recording proves to be time-consuming and costly for many businesses, especially universities, councils and maintenance companies who may have hundreds or thousands of buildings under their control.

OUR SOLUTIONS

UP2DATE

UP2DATE is our electronic monitoring solution.  Our service technicians will carry out all temperature and water hygiene monitoring using an XDA, then they simply upload this information to the UP2DATE database.  Our customer can then receive a report by email once the results are uploaded and any issues and out of specification results can be quickly acted on.  This closes the loop that inspectors pick up on site audits that faults are not dealt with and signed off.  It also ensures that you can demonstrate the system is under control – a crucial aspect of compliance if an inspector calls.

As well as legionella control, UP2DATE has other applications including asbestos, fire risk assessments and PAT testing, making it a one stop shop for building management.

UP2DATE will meet your needs for the storage and retrieval of records about the health of your buildings. Here are some additional benefits:-

• Bringing together your records and reports into one location accessible from any internet connection worldwide
• Offering system security and traceability.  Each user is given unique user ID's and passwords
• Offering a powerful action plan wizard that can turn your documents into an interactive management system 

ChloriDos - Chlorine dioxide dosing

There are times when traditional biocides are ineffective, particularly when a biofilm has developed.

As the biofilm cannot be penetrated, traditional biocides such as sodium hypochlorite will only impinge on the surface layers - killing them but leaving the underlying bacteria unaffected.

CHLORIDOS SOLUTION

Chlorine Dioxide is a true gas (like oxygen) and because it is a dissolved gas it can penetrate the slime layer protecting the bacteria in a biofilm. Because it is a powerful oxidiser it 'dissolves' the slime layer and kills the exposed bacteria. A study on biofilm control in domestic water systems carried out by the Building Services Research and Information Association proved that 0.1 ppm of Chlorine Dioxide was sufficient to kill biofilm in a pipe, and 0.4 ppm for biofilm attached to washers at outlets, and in mixer valves.

The Secretary of State for the Environment has approved Chlorine Dioxide for use in drinking water provided that the combined concentration of Chlorine Dioxide, chlorite and chlorate (by-products) does not exceed 0.5 ppm as Chlorine Dioxide.
Unlike chlorine and bromine based oxidising biocides, Chlorine Dioxide maintains full efficacy over a much wider pH range making it suitable for applications where traditional biocides are ineffective. The rate of disinfection by Chlorine Dioxide increases with rising pH. Chlorine Dioxide is capable of maintaining an active residual for a longer time than chlorine.This advantage of stability helps to protect remote sections of distribution systems and to prevent bacterial re-growth.

Chlorine Dioxide is a powerful disinfectant and excellent at destroying odours. This chemical has a considerably higher oxidising reduction potential than chlorine and can achieve destruction of such organic substances, virus, and spores which are not attacked by chlorine. Its sporicidal and virucidal effect is higher than that of chlorine at the same strength.

Webmaster - Web-based dosing

"Ensuring that cooling tower systems are dosed effectively to reduce bacterial growth"

With quickly changing parameters, one of the main problems we and our customers experience is ensuring that cooling tower systems are dosed effectively to reduce bacterial growth and that system control can be demonstrated in between visits by our engineers. To combat the problems associated with these aims,
we have developed a range of controllers which will allow us to achieve much tighter control on the critical parameters within the cooling systems. This will ensure consistent Bromine levels and water usage savings.

The systems feature internet accessibility for monitoring and changing parameters.  The WEBMASTER also compiles Datalogs for the crucial parameters for conductivity and bromine levels and can raise alarms remotely via email or SMS messaging.
With the half-hourly logging of information, including chemical and water usage, graphs on a variety of information can be produced.  These graphs can then be printed for insertion into the site log book to demonstrate system control.

By installing Webmaster One at one of our customer's sites, we have saved them more than £10,000 by efficient fault reporting, reducing water consumption and chemical usage.

Legionella e-Learning

It is well known that good quality training can help motivate staff as well as ensuring increased knowledge, understanding and ability to complete tasks properly.  The Approved Code of Practice and Guidance L8, “Legionnaires’ Disease – The Control of Legionella Bacteria in Water Systems” (paragraphs 44 and 45) requires staff to undergo training and regular refresher training as an integral aspect of competence.

We understand that coordinating training across a large company and taking people away from work can be difficult to implement.  We have therefore developed an E-Learning facility to further help you ensure your staff have access to legionella training when traditional classroom teaching is not a viable option.

The online E-Learning system can be completed at any location.  A computer and internet connection is all that is required.

Black Box Legionella Intelligence

Legionella Intelligence is a cost-effective, fully automated way to assist you in meeting HSE ACOP L8 guidelines.
Risk Assessments, record keeping, corrective action and complete audit trails are fundamental to ensuring that your Legionella risk prevention is robust. However, critical checks can be cumbersome, labour intensive, costly and are often incomplete due to human error.
Legionella Intelligence is a remotely accessed, web-based system that removes the need for monthly manual temperature checking, manual flushing and the risk of human error.

THE TECHNOLOGY

Incorporating the very latest wireless remote technology, Legionella Intelligence provides unique visibility of your water system. Sophisticated sensors are fitted to critical points (as identified in your risk assessment) throughout your hot and cold water system to enable:

• Continuous real-time monitoring of critical points
• Email alerts for non compliance
• Automatically generated and archived monthly reports, providing you with a full audit trail and evidence of compliance
• Multiple site monitoring from one location
• Targeted remote flushing of critical points identified as areas of infrequent use or non-compliant

THE BENEFITS

• Reduces costs
• No initial capital outlay
• Total peace of mind