Copper press connection technology saves time and man-hours
Attracting over 1,000 swimmers each day, the Melville Aquatic Fitness Centre in Perth, Western Australia, represents an intrinsic part of the local community.
The centre boasts a fantastic array of facilities including a 50-metre, eight-lane swimming pool, a 25-metre leisure pool with beach access, a health club, a wellness studio, a spa, a sauna and a steam room. A favourite of serious and recreational swimmers alike, the large lap pool has a capacity of 1.5 million litres, which is heated to 27 degrees Celsius.
Inefficient and costly
With the pool’s 10-year-old gas heating system costing the City of Melville thousands of dollars a month to maintain and run, in June 2014 the decision was made to fit the facility with the second-largest solar pool heating system in the southern hemisphere. The 160 panel evacuated tube (EVT) system (put in place to support the existing gas system), took nine weeks to install on the centre’s roof and required approximately half-a-kilometre of copper pipework.
High temperate tolerance
Supreme Heating WA, the company that fitted the system, employed a myriad of Viega products, including Viega Profipress fittings (Australian standard) from DN 15 to DN 80, which encompassed joiners, elbows, valve train configurations, and Ts. These fittings were essential to the project’s success, as they supported the EVT system and possessed crucial high temperature tolerances. Viega fittings also made installation easier and quicker.
“When we install thermal lagging, having to braze and solder the fittings means we have to wait until the copper cools down,” says Craig Doncon from Supreme Heating WA. “But using Viega press fittings meant we didn’t have to worry about soldering, which saved us a lot of time and man-hours. There was no down-time, so we were able to continue working.”
The successfully fitted EVT system has led to power bill savings of at least 50 to 60 per cent.