The following content originally appeared in Cooler Plus issue 69, which you can subscribe to here.
Cooler Plus spoke with Aqua Cure marketing manager Richard Stephenson.
What are the principal benefits of filtration?
Filtration can do more than just improve the taste and odour of water dispensed from a cooler: in hot water applications (coffee/vending) the right water filter can also help prevent equipment breakdowns. As a form of preventative maintenance, water filtration greatly reduces costs when compared to the expense of descaling, the potential cost of new components and repairs as well as the lost revenue that results from machine down-time. If you want to keep your equipment working in top condition, then filtration definitely matters.
What do you offer in terms of filters and filtrations?
Aqua Cure is currently offering a ‘total water management’ package, which means we
can supply everything from budget water filters through to high-end commercial RO systems and everything in between. This means we have the product range available to provide solutions for any application and for any water type.
With regard to new technologies, Aqua Cure will shortly be taking delivery of the new IX TAC filter, an alternative to ion exchange water softeners that prevents scale without adding salt or chemicals to your water.
What special features do these solutions have?
The clever ‘no salt’ technology in the IX TAC is called ‘template assisted crystallisation’ and it converts CaC03 (calcium carbonate) into inert crystals which remain suspended as harmless, inactive microscopic crystals leaving them unable to form scale on surfaces. It’s clever stuff!
The whole IX range also features reusable filter housings with only the insert needing to be replaced. This saves money and reduces the amount of waste plastic going to landfill. This type of design is becoming increasingly common in the water filter market with Aqua Cure’s own Hydro+ Eco also featuring a similar reusable filter housing with a replaceable carbon block element.
Have you noticed increased demand for simple water filtration solutions?
Worryingly, the market for mains-fed has seen a decrease in revenues over the past few years. While this may be seen as a benefit to the consumer (via lower monthly rentals), it could leave many water cooler suppliers with less to spend on quality components for their installations. Though Aqua Cure can cater for the margin conscious budget end of the market with WRAS approved 1 micron taste/odour filters such as our Hydro+ inline and Hydro+ Eco, we are continuing to champion the premium end of the market with Everpure’s aluminium canister range of sub-micron filtration due to the many advantages they offer as NSF42 and 53 filters. As an example, following a cryptosporidium outbreak in Lancashire recently, companies using premium cyst rated filters could keep their coolers and coffee and vending equipment running during the outbreak, maintaining their service levels and justifying their investment.
How can you be sure to satisfy consumer needs?
In short – listen to them and act on their requests. Aqua Cure has recently started stocking Pentair’s brand new second generation Claris filter head, which has come about as a result of Pentair listening to user’s requirements: the Claris head now features a removable bypass adjustment tool making filter installations more secure.
Where do you see the future of filters and filtration heading?
Aqua Cure is increasingly working in partnership with its customers to deliver area specific filtration. Particularly when it comes to combating typical water cooler, boiler and coffee machine problems like limescale, bacteria (cryptosporidium being a prime example) and chlorides that corrode metalwork (and cannot be removed by a carbon block), a ‘one solution fits all’ approach is not always the best option. Aqua Cure has found that becoming a water treatment partner rather than a supplier has really helped when it comes to educating the market as to what filtration solution is best suited to different areas and water types. We now have water quality data for pretty much every major town and city in the UK giving us a very good understanding of what filter type is best for any application combination. We would invite readers to come to us with any issues they might have as we are now experts in this area.
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