• • • ADVERTORIAL • • •
PROTECTING A 30-YEAR LEGACY: HOW HOCHIKI’S LEAKTRACE AND ESP
TECHNOLOGY SAFEGUARD THE SHIP CENTURION W
hen Acer Electrical was asked to design and install a life safety system for The Ship Centurion, a
well-established pub on the Kent coast in Whitstable, the brief went beyond standard fire detection. The building’s basement, home to extensive
pipework and beer keg storage, made water leak detection just as critical as fire protection. Hochiki’s LEAKtrace conventional water leak detection system was central to the solution from the outset.
The building and its challenges The Ship Centurion has been a fixture of the Whitstable community since 1996, founded by the Birks family and now run by their son Roland. The pub spans a bar, kitchen, games room, renovated bedrooms and a basement used to store beer kegs. For a family business with three decades of history behind it, protecting the building’s fabric
24 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • JUNE 2026
and contents was as important as meeting compliance requirements. The combination of historical infrastructure,
varied room functions and a large basement containing extensive pipework presented Acer Electrical with a clear set of installation challenges. Cabling needed to be routed discreetly to preserve the building’s character, so the flooring void was used throughout to keep cabling hidden and the aesthetics of the pub intact.
Water leak detection: the
LEAKtrace installation Water damage in hospitality venues is a common and costly problem. Persistent, undetected leaks from equipment or pipework can cause structural damage and significant loss of revenue over time. For a family business like The Ship Centurion, the consequences of an undetected leak in the basement could have been severe.
Hochiki’s LEAKtrace conventional water leak
detection system was specified to address this directly. Operating independently from the fire system, LEAKtrace is built around a compact, wall-mounted control panel that is both discreet and straightforward to install. The system at The Ship Centurion comprised a two-zone control panel, complemented by water detection cables and floor probes covering the basement perimeter, activating an alarm at the first sign of moisture. For electrical engineers specifying life safety
solutions in similar environments, LEAKtrace supports both point detection via floor probes and linear detection via detection cable, or a combination of both within the same zone. Each zone accommodates up to 50 metres of detection cable or up to 20 probes, and bright blue LED indicators on each interface allow fast, intuitive identification of the leak location. Battery backup ensures the system continues to monitor around the clock, even during a power outage. Where
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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