The project
Edyn Ltd offer luxury aparthotels in central locations. Following a call from one of their London aparthotels, we visited the site to investigate a failing Lochinvar boiler.
Boilers in hard water areas often fail when not paired with a water softener system to manage the hardness, as they are manufactured to heat water, not treat it. A common issue in London, this boiler had broken down due to significant scaling. As well as eventually causing boilers to fail completely, scale is a nutrient for legionella, so can cause problems in water systems long before the boiler breaks down.
The customer was looking to replace the boiler with a similar model, and time was of the essence as the residents in the aparthotel did not have access to hot water. Because of the water hardness issue, we carried out a survey and advised against replacing the boiler with a like-for-like unit.
We proposed placing a duplex water softener in their basement plant room, with modified pipework that would allow for a bypass. This bypass would mean that when the softener was being serviced, water would continue to be supplied to the building – essential for the hotel industry.
The water supply was tested before and after works were carried out. Water hardness in London is generally around 350ppm – any supply measuring over 200ppm is considered hard. Water hardness is essentially the amount of calcium and magnesium dissolved into the water. When it’s softened, it removes the calcium and replaces it with sodium.
With this in mind, as well as installing the water softener, we added a blend valve to allow some of the original water back into the system, as fully softened water isn’t ideal to drink. This blend valve allows the balance to be controlled to keep it within guidelines – an appropriate level for the guests to use and safe for the equipment to process.
Client
Location
London
Overview
Replaced failing boiler with duplex water softener and blend valve for a lasting solution that will mean fewer breakdowns for the aparthotel
The future
Once the system was up and running, we measured the water hardness at 50-70ppm – a vast reduction from 350ppm. As well as improving the water hygiene quality for this aparthotel building, the work we carried out increased the lifespan of the boiler, making it more efficient and at reduced risk of scaling, leading to fewer breakdown concerns.
We now have a service agreement in place to supply granular salt and service the system regularly, plus disinfect the water treatment system every six months. This preventative maintenance means we’ve had no emergency callouts, the residents get water at the right temperature, and Edyn Ltd actually saves money, as their system isn’t working as hard.
