ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
From historic lightship to highly commended Unique Stay
With nearly eight years at Saniflo UK, Amanda Mills, the author of this article, is a skilled marketing professional with broad experience across retail, trade, and online sectors in both B2B and B2C. A strategic thinker and natural leader, she brings teams together to deliver integrated campaigns that drive brand awareness, sales, and customer engagement within budget. Her background in events, sales, and operations gives her a strong commercial focus, ensuring each campaign aligns with broader business goals. Organised, results-driven, and collaborative, Amanda plays a crucial role in Saniflo UK’s growth and market presence
S
ula Lightship was built and commissioned in the 1950s for use in shallow waters off the Humber Estuary where it was in service for almost 30 years. Lightships, largely now obsolete, were placed in locations unsuitable for lighthouse construction, such as sandbanks, to provide a waymark for oncoming vessels. Today they have been replaced by large automated navigation buoys.
After being decommissioned, the historic ship,
previously named SPURN, was moved to the Channel Islands for renovation and then on to Wales and Ireland as a museum; twice being rescued from the breakers yard. On the latter occasion it was bought by a Dutch couple who moved it to the picturesque Gloucester docks and undertook extensive refurbishment to adapt it for use as a therapy centre. Fully working bathrooms and showers were installed using Saniflo macerators to pump black waste from two WCs and a Sanishower to pump grey waste from therapy basins. These discharged to two large storage tanks on board, each holding approximately 13000 litres (3100 gallons), which were formerly freshwater tanks for the crew of the lightship when on active duty. Current owners, Colin and Viv Brooks, have had a passion for living on the water for many years and spotted the Sula Lightship for sale in early 2019 from the deck of their narrow boat whilst meandering through the Gloucester Docks. After completing the purchase – and with exciting ideas for luxury tourist accommodation at one end of the ship and their own living quarters at the other – the country went into lockdown which meant some time was lost on the conversion. However, the glorious weather was used to their advantage to complete work inside and out. A shop on the upper deck was converted to a living room and kitchen area and the chain locker beneath was converted into two contemporary bedrooms and a large, luxury shower room. Stunning original features, such as portholes and wooden doors and floors, feature throughout the ship; a testament to the quality of build. A Sanimarin WC – from the Saniflo marine range – was installed into the new bathroom because it provided sufficient power to pump through a range of pipes in the chain room below right along to the tanks at the stern of the vessel. The shower was plumbed into the existing Sanishower unit, which has worked perfectly for over 15 years with minimal maintenance and zero problems.
The two Saniflo units in the owner’s living quarters were replaced during the conversion following recommendation from the Saniflo agent, Pumpmaster, for long term economic reasons as they were both over 10 years and had had heavy use. The 2-bed on board apartment is now rented to tourists visiting the docks. Its location on the river adjacent to a beautiful old priory, which is now a wedding venue, also ensures a stream of wedding parties renting the space. A TV appearance has ensured a continuous stream of bookings from people with a fascination for maritime history and this year the vessel was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Unique Stay of the Year category of the Gloucestershire Lifestyle Awards.
Colin, whose knowledge of the lightship’s history is second to none, offers tours of the ship to customers and members of marine societies ensuring the accurate historical recording of this vital piece of British heritage. The ship has taken part in D Day 80 celebrations, where the Fresnel light at the top of the mast – the only working version of this model in the world – spun light onto all the buildings surrounding the docks. Colin and Viv consider themselves historical custodians and they are certainly responsible for preserving this element of maritime history. The couple believe the solutions provided
by Saniflo distributors, Pumpmaster and Lee Sanitation, enabled the conversion of the lightship; waste discharge would be have been nigh on impossible otherwise;
‘The original Saniflo units certain enabled the modern functioning of the bathroom facilities in the living quarters and these were only replaced after 11 years for personal long term economic reasons. When an engineer came out to fix a small issue, we decided to buy new to ensure future longevity. The only maintenance prior to this was regular descaling using Saniflo descaler, which we now do with the Sanimarin which also operates perfectly at all times. Fully working showers and flushable WCs would not have been possible without the macerators and pumps .”
14 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER DECEMBER 2024 Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38
