Two completely upgraded washrooms used by production staff in the Ashford, Kent food production plant of Premier Foods plc have Rada Sense digital water control technology at the heart of the ‘no-touch’ washing facilities.
Two completely upgraded washrooms used by production staff in the Ashford, Kent food production plant of Premier Foods plc have Rada Sense digital water control technology at the heart of the ‘no-touch’ washing facilities.
Rada is the commercial division of Kohler Mira and since introducing the unique Rada Sense concept three years ago, has installed thousands of individual units on showering and hand washing applications around the world.
The Premier Foods factory, in Kennington Road, Ashford concentrates on the production of dry foods such as Batchelors ‘Cup a’ Soup’ and pasta based products and is Premier Food’s main dry foods plant in the UK.
As part of the overhaul and upgrade of the male and female washrooms the decision was made to create no-touch control of hand washing and showering environments. This has involved installing a total of 22 Rada Sense units – 11 in each washroom – as well as Kohler Odela w/c pans and urinals, all of which automatically flush using the Rada Pulse no-touch central electronic flow control system.
Rada Pulse offers programmable timed flow control for urinals and w/c’s and being easy to programme (via a hand held programmer) optimises water use while offering the benefits of no-touch operation.
In addition to the washrooms, which are used by production staff in the 210 personnel plant, Rada Sense hand washing controls are installed in the lobby washroom areas which are used by staff and visitors.
“We had previously used knee operated equipment in the washrooms but when we opted to completely upgrade them, in the interests of hygiene, we specified Rada Sense,” explains Colin Watson, the Premier Foods project engineer who oversaw the design and installation from the outset.
“There was obviously a need to avoid any opportunities for cross contamination and of course for the comfort of our staff, a whole installation based around Rada Sense digitally controlled hand washing and showering was really appreciated.
“And because Rada is part of Kohler, when we were looking for stylish, high quality sanitary ware, it was good that we were able to co-ordinate the complete installation virtually from one source.
Rada Sense digital water control systems are increasingly being specified in areas where hygiene is paramount or prevention of hand borne contamination is high on the agenda. This covers food processing facilities such as at the Premier Foods installation but also increasing numbers of hospitals, critical care units and even sports and leisure facilities such as gymnasiums and spa’s.
They offer many advantages to the facility user as well as those responsible for maintaining best practice in the hot water delivery system - particularly where maintaining safe water temperatures is critical. This, coupled with their ease and speed of maintenance, prove to be an effective combination.
Rada Sense digital mixing valves are operated by infra red wall mounted control panels which are installed above wash hand basins or in shower cubicles.
The system differs significantly from traditional ‘no-touch’ controls because not only does the panel eliminate risks of cross infection by allowing the user to initiate water flow, it also allows the selection of the water temperature without touching the panel.
For safety, precise maximum and minimum water temperatures and flow times can be pre-set using a remote hand held computer and these settings are maintained even if there are water pressure or temperature fluctuations.
There are also a number of functions that allow the maintenance team at Ashford to maintain best practice in the hot water systems that supply the basins and showers in the washrooms.
The Sense digital mixing valve incorporates an intelligent ‘duty flush’ feature that monitors the time since the outlet was last used. If it has not been used for a pre-determined time (say 12 hours) the appliance is automatically flushed through at a safe temperature to clear water that may have been stagnant in the pipe work or, more importantly, in any dead legs. The non use period, flush temperature and duration can also be pre-determined and logged in the mixing valve.
To comply with HSC ‘AcoP L8’ directives, routine thermal disinfection as a means of preventing or controlling legionella is also recommended. With Rada Sense this can be achieved by activating the thermal disinfection mode which – under supervision – allows hot water at a temperature of at least 60°C to be flushed through the electronic mixing valve and all outlet pipe-work – a process that is simply not possible where conventional TMV’s are fitted.
The disinfection procedure is activated by a hand held computer which then records the temperature and duration and produces a log of the disinfection process that can be stored on a PC.
Other key features of the Rada Sense T-logic technology include a facility that performs 5 safety checks, 40 times a second, a ‘lock out’ facility that activates if a fault is detected and a second temperature sensor that will close down the system if for any reason the water temperature exceeds a safe level. The mixing unit is supplied factory-set to comply with TMV3 safe temperature settings.
To contact Kohler Mira call (01242) 282527 or fax (01242) 282404.
e-mail: Rada_Technical@mirashowers.com