CoolKit wins Welsh Water tender

Refrigerated vehicle specialist CoolKit Ltd has won a tender agreement to convert a fleet of vehicles for UK water company Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water).

A total of eleven Ford vans used for the transportation of water samples will be converted into CoolKit temperature controlled vehicles to ensure that Dŵr Cymru conforms to the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2010.

The regulations demand that in taking, handling, transporting, storing and analysing water, any sample taken must be kept at a temperature and in conditions that will ensure the sample remains representative of the quality of the water at the time of sampling.

CoolKit sales executive Mark Beaton said: “In winning the tender, CoolKit demonstrated a deep understanding of the regulations, having converted vans for other water companies over the years, and also demonstrated our solution by supplying a detailed 3D CAD drawing of the completed conversion. This enabled the customer to visualise the specification of the conversion and to be confident that it met their stringent needs.”

CoolKit also supplied a full breakdown of the refrigeration unit’s capabilities, service and warranty, and also arranged a training day to ensure the team of engineers and drivers at Dŵr Cymru fully understood the vehicles and how to operate them.

Mark said: “The conversions have a partition, so that there is no common air between the compartments, to ensure that samples cannot be contaminated. The vehicles are also fitted with a refrigeration unit with dual evaporators and a heating facility as well as cooling so the samples can be kept at a constant temperature.

"A keyless running system that allows the vehicle to idle without keys in the ignition for vehicle safety was installed to ensure that, when sampling at reservoirs, the refrigeration unit will keep running so samples are not affected when there is no electric standby power available.”

To monitor the temperature of the samples for due-diligence, CoolKit fitted Transcan2 temperature recorders with air and product probes as air temperature sensing alone may not provide a meaningful indication of product temperature. This recorder can store temperature data for up to one year and print records of the temperature in each compartment. CoolKit also installed a high intensity LED work-lamp to make it easier to see in low light conditions and a retractable shelf in each compartment which can be pulled out of the vehicle by 500mm whilst holding a load of up to 250kg per shelf to make loading and unloading safer for drivers.