Midlands Water Treatment Works

A water treatment works in the Midlands required pipework repair for the compressed air ozone system injected into the plant’s drinking water supplies.

Two oil-free compressors were linked to two 3,000 litre galvanised air receivers and then back to refrigerant dryers and desiccant dryers. This resulted in clean air that was injected in mains water.

The compressed air pipework was constructed using Geberit Mapress stainless steel 88.9mm, using a variety of bends, tees, flanges and couplings.The equipment also needed to be cooled via chilled water; this system was also constructed out of Geberit Mapress stainless steel, this time at 54mm.

Gary Smith, from GRS Mechanical explained the challenges of working in a fully operational water treatment works:

“The existing plant is dairy welded stainless steel pipework and we had to work with this system, fitting new pipework to the old. We were only able to use existing valves, placing limitations on the install.

The biggest challenge, however, was that the site is operational 24/7, with no shut down periods, so all of the installation had to fit around a fully functioning water treatment plant. The fact Geberit Mapress has no need for hot works was ideal, allowing the plant to be kept running throughout the repairs. Avoiding downtime was a real bonus for the customer – we showed them the works we had completed using Geberit Mapress at other plants to convince them of its benefits.

Apart from the ease of installation that Geberit Mapress offered, time was also saved on the job as there was no need for off-site fabrication. Once the plant and tooling was set up, all works could be carried out on site to suit any existing layouts.

Another key factor was hygiene. In this instance, Geberit Mapress is carrying super clean compressed air for the ozone plant associated with drinking water.”

GRS Mechanical has a long running relationship with Geberit.Our installers are fully trained to use Mapress and we find the pressing solution ideal for projects such as this – it’s extremely easy to use, quick to install and the no hot works factor makes it suitable for challenging environments; particularly alongside existing systems where downtime is not an option.”