SETTING OUT TO CLARIFY THE ISSUES - ENERGY AND WATER SAVING KEY ISSUES FOR NEW ORGANISATION

(21/08/2007)

Responding to a need for clarity within the water treatment industry, more than one hundred companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of water treatment equipment have come together with water heating appliance manufacturers to form the United Kingdom Water Treatment Association – the UKWTA.

This new organisation has been formed dedicated to the water treatment industry and the many issues that are current across four technology group areas – water softeners, chemical water treatment, physical water treatment and water filters.

Amongst their key roles is to advise on water and energy saving issues as they relate to water treatment, helping businesses and individuals to get to grips with the realities of products and processes, highlighting those that have a beneficial impact and those where benefits are marginal or non-existent. Highlighting levels of water usage and energy usage will be part and parcel of the information drive.

The principal role of the UKWTA is to establish the facts and advise the users and industry of the genuine performance benefits of products available. The UKWTA feels that there is a great deal of misinformation within the industry and homeowners, heating and plumbing engineers and installers and water heating appliance manufacturers are understandably confused and to a degree sceptical about the benefits claimed by some water treatment products.

This new trade association aims to establish standards and best practice within the industry through proper testing, to define the relative performance of products and produce information that will assist in product selection.

The latest changes to the Building Regulations specified that the use of water treatment to maintain appliance efficiency, for example the use of devices to prevent limescale build-up in water heaters in hard water areas, and the use of corrosion inhibitors in all central heating systems are now mandatory and householders in particular need to know which products work and which don’t. Water treatment products have the capacity to substantially increase the energy efficiency of a heating system, reducing energy usage and of course, energy bills for the users.

In addition, on the water softener front, modern water softeners require far less water for the regeneration process which replaces the ‘hard’ magnesium and calcium ions that are ‘exchanged’ for ‘soft’ sodium ions as the water passes through the softener’s resin chamber.

Many water softeners in current use are upwards of twenty five years old – softeners have a very reasonable life expectancy but tend to reduce in efficiency as they get older, requiring more regular regeneration and as a result, more salt and water to provide anything like a reasonable water softening service to their owners. They clearly require replacement to provide an energy and water efficient product that is also capable of performing the water softening task far more effectively than most of the elderly units installed around the country.

“We’re looking to offer straightforward advice in lay mans terms to anyone who needs to know it,” said UKWTA Technical Director Tony Frost. “There are a number of issues – contentious and otherwise – that need to be resolved and we know that many people both in the heating and plumbing sector and consumers – want answers in simple language that tells them whether or not things work and if they do, how and why. We’ve set out to supply that sort of information and to put many of the claims and counter claims made by manufacturers into everyday context."

He added: "How many milligrams of something in a litre of water really doesn’t mean much to most people, but if we need to explain how much sodium is in softened water and how that relates to salt, we can show that the amount of sodium in a typical days supply of softened drinking water is equal to the amount of sodium in two slices of bread, people then begin to get a feel for the reality of life. It puts that issue into context. That’s what we will be attempting to do across a wide range of products in the four technology areas we cover.”

Companies interested in finding out more about the UKWTA should call Chairman Dr Carl Jasper on 01509 215000.

Related categories:  Organisational changes   Water filters and softeners   Water treatment 

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