Leyland-based swimming pool company World Leisure (UK) Ltd is set to reduce water consumption at four Village Hotels by an estimated 1.4 km3 (1,388m3) per year, providing significant water bill savings annually across the sites.
The water savings will come from regenerative media systems fitted at Village hotels in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Portsmouth, which save water by eliminating the need to backwash filters in comparison to conventional sand filters.
World Leisure managing director Simon Smith said: “The basic difference between regenerative filters and conventional high-rate sand filters is the operating premise. Sand filters use depth filtration while regenerative filters use surface filtration.
“Comparatively, the regenerative filters incorporate about ten times the filter area of a similar-sized sand filter and the particles removed from the water are retained on the surface of fabric covered flex tubes.
“Sand filter traps most of the same dirt particles deep in the media bed until backwashing is required and the process of lifting or fluidizing the bed takes time and a huge amount of water to backwash out the collected particles.
“With the regenerative filters, simply emptying the vessel releases the particles collected during the filter cycle.”
The regenerative filters fitted at Village Hotels are set to achieve an approximate average reduction of 347 m3 litres of water per hotel in water dumped per year in comparison to sand filters, meaning sewerage and fresh water costs will be greatly reduced.
Village Hotels National Operations Manager Andy Logan said: “At Village Hotels, we are committed to doing everything we can to operate our hotels in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Water usage is a massive issue environmentally, so the more we can do to save it the better. The reduction in water usage also helps save on our water and waste bills, allowing us to reinvest into our facilities for the benefit of our customers.”
Simon Smith added: “It’s strange that sand filters are often still in specifications we receive from a lot of clients in the UK, even thoughregenerative filters have been available here for about ten years. In the US, on the other hand, regenerative filters have been widelyused for about twenty years and are absolutely proven to reduce water and chemical usage. They also use less heat and provide sparkling, clear water, while still meeting PWTAG (Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group) guidance in the UK for water usage to ensure acceptable TDS levels are maintained at all times.
“A further benefit of regenerative filters is the space saving. They require much less space than traditional sand filters, reducing construction costs on new builds and easing retrofitting on existing plantrooms. We are pleased to have helped Village Hotels inleading the way by using these filters and we hope a lot more customers will follow suit, providing cost savings and environmental benefits.”
