Troutlodge, Inc, the world’s leading supplier of salmon eggs and owner of the Glen Wyllin Trout Farm, has constructed a new state-of-the-art water temperature controlled and water re-circulated hatchery building at the farm. The new building, which is Troutlodge’s first facility of this nature in Europe, replaces an existing outdated facility and will have a capacity of 100 million eyed Rainbow trout eggs per annum.

The most important aspect with any hatchery is to provide continued water flow, to deliver the correct level of oxygenation to the eggs at all times, as a lack of sufficient oxygen will lead to deformities and / or mortalities in the population. As a result, Troutlodge, Inc was looking for a reliable pipework system that could effectively transport water throughout the facility and turned to Astore UK.

Astore metric PVC-U pipework and fittings in sizes from 90mm – 225mm have been installed for all water pipelines throughout the building. The eggs need a constant flow of water through the tanks to survive and develop, but Troutlodge, Inc is committed to preserving natural resources, so the Astore PVC-U pipework is used to re-circulate all water around the system. This prevents high volumes of fresh water being taken from the local natural resources.

Astore PVC-U was selected due to previous good experiences of the product as Troutlodge Isle of Man Managing Director, Roy Charsley, explains; “I first used Astore pipework after it was recommended for a facility I was building for a previous company in South Africa and I have been so impressed with the product, I have never used anything else.

“There was no question of using anything else for the new facility on the Isle of Man, the product is so quick and easy to install, it makes the installation process very simple. Reliability is key for us, as the water needs to be constantly pumped through the tanks to keep the eggs alive, so we need to know the pipework system will continue to carry clean, uncontaminated water throughout the lifetime of the facility and we know Astore PVC-u pipe can do just that.”

Supplied via IPS, flow metering sensors from Astore UK were specified by Aqua Systems, a leading provider of the design, fabrication and installation of fish farming system equipment, for its Borehole Supply Metering System, which it has recently supplied to Scottish Sea Farms.Scottish Sea Farms takes approximately 2,000m³ of fresh water a day from underground boreholes as the salmon need a constant flow of fresh water through their tanks. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) requires that all water removed from boreholes is monitored and declared so Scottish Sea Farms turned to Aqua Systems for a suitable solution.

To meet this need, Aqua Systems designed and supplied the Borehole Supply Metering System, which utilises 11 x Astore FLS Paddle Wheel Sensors to constantly monitor the water flow and record the collected information on a digital display.

For this application, Aqua Systems required a simple flow monitoring solution and Astore UK provided the ideal product, as Ramzi Arabi from Aqua Systems explains: “We needed a reliable and effective flow monitoring product to ensure all the information is collected and recorded so that it can be provided to SEPA whenever necessary, but we didn’t want an over-engineered product that provides excessive levels of detail – Astore UK had the perfect product in the FLS FlowX3 Paddle Wheel.

“In addition to the product performance, the level of support and service provided by both the IPS and Astore UK teams cannot be faulted; from the initial enquiry through to the after sales service, the teams were exceptional and I will definitely be returning for future projects.”

Astore UK offers a full range of flow control solutions to cater for a variety of fluid analysis and measurement applications. From simple variable area flowmeters through to digital technologies such as such as paddle wheel and insertion magmeter sensors, Astore UK has a product to suit a wide range of customer needs.

Emergency One is one of the UK’s leading providers of fire rescue and emergency vehicles, specialising in the design, manufacture, sale, service and training of the vehicles.

Astore was commissioned to provide pipework for the company’s current national maintenance project of fire engine refurbishments, constituting a campaign to re-fit each of the 100 Emergency One fire engines in operation across the UK with new water pump systems.

As part of the project, Astore PVC-U pipework, in sizes 120mm – 185mm, has been installed to transport water from the hydrant to the water storage tank in the fire engines, in order to distribute the water from the engines efficiently and safely.

Derek Drain, Workshop Manager at Emergency One, commented: “Astore was the first choice for Emergency One because of the long life-span of Astore PVC-U, which was highly important for such a wide-scale project that requires built-to-last strength.

“The lightweight properties of Astore PVC-U also really aided the efficiency of our refurbishment by making work quick and easy to carry out, ensuring that regions are covered off swiftly and efficiently.”

The project began at the end of 2008 and is set to continue throughout 2009, covering of the UK, Scotland and Ireland.

Astore offers a wide range of thermoplastic PVC-U and ABS pipework, fittings and valves; for further information on any products within the Astore portfolio please call 01543 272400.

Ecoliving Ltd is a specialist distributor of renewable energy heating systems to installers, developers and households throughout the UK. Astore compression fittings, in sizes up to 63mm, are being used to connect the pipework and create manifolds for use with ground source heat pumps.

To operate the ground source heat pumps, a specialist pipe is sunk into a borehole or buried underground and an environmentally friendly non-freezing solution is circulated through the system, collecting the heat stored in the soil and transporting it to the heat pump. The pump then delivers heat to a water based heating system which operates under floor heating, radiators and domestic hot water services.

It was highly important that the Astore compression fittings were able to work with and complement the specialist pipework used within this process as Lesley Moir, marketing manager at Ecoliving Ltd explained: “We specified the Astore compression fittings for use within the renewable energy process due to their ability to work highly efficiently with other elements of the system.

The Astore compression fittings are utilised within the Ecoliving Ltd systems throughout the UK.

Astore compression fittings are designed for water transportation systems and can be used within field irrigation and other water distribution applications. Astore offers a wide range of thermoplastic ABS and PVC-U pipework, fittings and valves.

The new invention – Meckow Aquapur – is the brainchild of Dr Leighton James and it purifies and filters the contaminated water supply to produce 1,000 litres of clean drinking water every hour. At present Meckow Aquapur works with eight government agencies, who are currently distributing the units to 12 different African countries, allowing over 2,000 people access to clean drinking water for each unit installed.

Each unit utilises seven Astore PVC-U valves; 1 x inlet valve, 3 x exit valves, a cut-off valve and 2 x return valves within the configuration of the system. The valves were selected due to the long-term performance benefits of the products; it is important that the units are easy for the end user to operate, so all elements within the system need to have limited maintenance requirements and offer a long product lifespan.

The Astore valves met all the necessary criteria for this product; the PVC-U plastic material is both limescale and corrosion resistant so the valves will not be affected by the various fluids passing through them, offering a low maintenance solution that ensures the product will retain the same high performance levels after 20 years.

Commenting on the project, Dr Leighton James said: “I am delighted with the product we have produced; every 10 seconds one person dies from a water – bourne disease so it is satisfying to be able to do be able to help people with the Meckow Aquapur. It was extremely important for me to provide a product that does not need electricity to operate, has low maintenance and that will last for over 20 years, to ensure they can continue to receive clean drinking water for a long period of time without needing any specific skills to operate it.

“I had to be sure that all the individual companies and suppliers I used could also fulfil these requirements. Aside from the quick and easy installation of the Astore valves, I know they will not corrode or stop performing with the constant flow of both contaminated and clean water, so they will last throughout the lifetime of the system.”