UK universities are coming to the end of their financial year right now, and it has been a challenging twelve months for many of their engineering teams. Tasked with leading the way on decarbonising existing university estates, many are also involved in the delivery of new or extensively upgraded buildings.
University of Manchester
As the UK government sets its sights on a science and technology driven future, universities will play a key role in delivering that – and that means ensuring campus facilities attract the best in undergraduates and researchers.
One example is the University of Manchester, a member of the Russell Group and one of the UK’s largest campus-based universities with 26,000 undergraduates and 14,000 post-graduates. It has been delivering a Masterplan aimed at creating a sustainable university with innovative and contemporary facilities that support its pioneering research. In 2012, the University committed to a £1 billion investment to modernise, decarbonise with the goal of creating a ‘world class’ campus.
Enwa has worked with the University of Manchester since 2021 and they have been integrating our EnwaMatic technology into their refurbishment projects. There are now 30 EnwaMatic systems across campus, including their Jodrell Bank SKA site, helping to maintain water quality across a range of buildings.
Protecting investments
Most recently, we have delivered to the University’s 1960s chemistry building. The refurbishment works include reconfiguration of laboratory space; provision of computational chemistry facilities as well as building services improvements and addition of new office accommodation and break-out areas.
One of the reasons that water treatment is so critical in building refurbishment is that it supports decarbonisation projects and wider building services refurbishment. For example, with chiller upgrades and the adoption of air source heat pumps (ASHP), protecting system water quality is critical for energy efficiency and system protection.
Refurbishment projects can release ‘historical debris’ into the system, reducing the water’s transport characteristics and impacting the efficiency of other equipment within the HVAC system. Another issue can be that modern equipment is designed to be more efficient with smaller plant, and thinner, narrower waterways. While this should make the system more energy efficient, deposition and build-up of scale, corrosion or bacterial contamination can soon take hold.
With the focus on development of innovative, science-focused buildings, water quality is equally important. Many of these projects include complex MEP systems which means that simplifying the process of water treatment is essential.
Optimisation
Enwa’s EnwaMatic Side Stream system is a solution that supports engineering teams tackling these projects. Enwa’s approach simplifies water treatment by using a simple backwash procedure that can be fully automated. It eliminates the replacement or cleaning of strainers, cartridges, or filter bags. This method also provides a more environmentally friendly alternative to chemical inhibitors and cleaning agents.
In both new-build and refurbishment, an innovative approach to water treatment can deliver better energy performance, longer equipment lifetimes. The EnwaMatic Side Stream filtration system removes debris to less than 10 microns. Independent testing shows that suspended solids in treated water are reduced to levels comparable with potable water.
That’s important because by-products of corrosion, scale and biofouling can build up in closed systems, reducing the energy transport characteristics of water. This not only disrupts flow but also reduces the cooling/heating efficiencies of the system. So, water treatment and filtration directly impact energy efficiency and operational carbon in buildings.
With universities like Manchester planning for a high-tech future where they compete with organisations around the world to attract the best and brightest, ensuring efficient and effective building performance is one of the key tasks for engineering teams.
Enwa’s approach can help busy university engineers by providing an automated approach to water treatment, with a self-regulating water conditioning process that also provides pH regulation, corrosion inhibition and scale control – creating a harsh environment for bacterial growth. This provides peace-of-mind for engineering teams who know that water quality is being constantly maintained and protected.
