clean air, clean water, Britewater

Air Hygiene

For many years, hygiene in ventilation systems has been a neglected area. More recently, building managers have become increasingly aware that fouled and dirty air systems affect the working environment and the comfort and health of staff.

Specific legislation on indoor air quality has its origins in the COSHH regulations and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which lays down that employers owe “common duty of care” to employees and others who use or visit the premises. The European Community’s “Work Place Directive”, implemented in January 1996, states that “Mechanical Ventilation Systems should be properly cleaned and maintained to ensure that they are kept clean and free from anything which may contaminate the air”.

Britewater has provided air hygiene services for several years throughout the UK.

Britewater provides a range of services, from System Risk Assessment to cleaning and disinfection of air systems, through to routine monitoring and hygiene maintenance.

Why Air Hygiene?

Legislation

System Testing (Inspection/Monitoring)

The Health and Safety Commission document L24 The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulation 5’ imposes a duty to clean mechanical ventilation systems ‘as appropriate’. The Workplace Regulations are accompanied by an Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) which gives guidance on how compliance with the regulation can be achieved.

ACOP 22(A)

States that regular maintenance (including, as necessary, inspection, testing, adjustment, lubrication and cleaning) should be carried out at suitable intervals.

ACOP 33

States that ‘mechanical ventilation systems (including air conditioning systems) should be regularly and properly cleaned, tested and maintained to ensure they are kept clean and free from anything which may contaminate the air’.

To comply with the above legislations we would advise Prospective Clients to commission Britewater to carry our a Hygiene Survey of the ventilation system ductwork to give an overview of the current condition.

All works would comply with HVCA TR19 “Specific Considerations for System Components”.

Hygiene Surveys

The initial assessment of the system condition and identification of risk is the first step for existing plant. This forms the basis for a programme of works, which may include cleaning, disinfection, upgrading and routine monitoring, to ensure the risk to employees and the general public are minimized.

Britewater's fully qualified and experienced staff, carry out a detailed survey of your system.

A comprehensive report is prepared, which highlights the level of risk and makes detailed recommendations to prevent or minimise those findings.

Specialist Services

Consultancy

Independent surveys and hygiene assessments for:

  • Biological monitoring
  • Risk Assessment
  • Routine monitoring and reporting
  • Dust sampling
  • Indoor air quality monitoring
  • Air flow measurement
  • Balancing of air conditioning and ventilation systems
  • Comfort monitoring humidity/temperature

Field Services

National mobile field service unit's providing:

Ductwork cleaning

  • Air handling units cleaning and disinfection
  • Installation of access doors
  • Ductwork modification and repairs
  • Filter replacement
  • Spray and fogging disinfection
  • Kitchen extraction cleaning

System Cleaning

Britewater has invested in a range of different automated cleaning technologies because:

  • Most air conditioning systems are large and complex
  • No single cleaning system can handle all sizes of ductwork
  • Varying standards of cleanliness are required for different types of systems
  • Adopting various cleaning technologies brings benefits in terms of economy, reduced downtime with minimal disruption

Pressovac System

The sophisticated brushing system employs various sizes, grades and configurations of brush heads driven by air motors. It provides a high grade of surface cleanliness in many different types of ductwork. The Pressovac system can clean up to 50m of ducting in a single pass.

Rotary Brushing

A rotary brush system is used essentially for smaller systems and branches of large ducting and flexible trunking to individual diffusers.

Air Jetting

The air jetting technique consists of two systems. One is used for small ducting, such as toilet extract and flexible trunking.

The larger Ventrico system employs high-volume compressed air, to loosen dirty deposits, and vacuum extraction equipment, to remove this material from the system. It is capable of cleaning complicated systems up to 50m from a single entry point.

Manual

Manual cleaning is used for air handling units and larger ducting, where Britewater's experienced staff employ heavy duty vacuum equipment to remove dust accumulation.

Dust Extraction

Once loosened, the dust and dirt must be removed from the ducting. Custom designed and manufactured high volume extractor modules, incorporating cartridge filters each of 50m2 , are employed. A single module is used on smaller ducts with several units being employed on larger ducting, where a greater volume of air extraction is required.

This unique system ensures the removed dirt is captured and contained within the filter unit, avoiding contamination of the workplace.