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DOMESTIC SOLUTIONS & APPLICATIONS


Specialist water treatment restores failed boiler and avoids costly replacement


Fernox recently assisted solv group in restoring a broken-down boiler for a customer in Belfast. After being approached by the mechanical, electrical and facilities management service provider, the water treatment specialist recommended two products which actively helped the fi lter to remove signifi cant levels of contaminants from the system, and restored full operation of the boiler, avoiding a costly replacement


T


he East Belfast Mission supports the community in Belfast through services such as temporary housing for the homeless. In


its Skanios building, two of the critical gas boilers which provide heat and hot water to residents failed in the main plant room, and an urgent solution was needed. The team from the Skanios building contacted a service provider but after the initial repair was unsuccessful, the heating system was temporarily disabled for 10 days. As such, East Belfast Mission approached solv to tackle the problem. Despite succeeding in getting one of the boilers operational again, after assessing the second, they found that it was repeatedly failing due to a signifi cant build-up of sludge in the system, due to prolonged inactivity. For further specialist advice, the team contacted Fernox and Richard Thompson,


Ireland country manager, who attended the site. He recommended installing side fi ltration and dosing with Protector+ Filter Fluid F9 as an eff ective approach that would require minimal disruption for the building occupants. Protector+ Filter Fluid F9 is designed to provide


premium protection for mixed-metal heating and cooling systems and is only to be used alongside a system fi lter. Its combination of a high-performance inhibitor and an active dispersant enables the chemical water treatment to lift and deliver contaminants to the fi lter for the safe collection of corrosion, debris and scale. Crucially, the problematic second boiler in the Skianos building was able to run during the two- week period that the Fernox treatment was left to sit in the system for. Solv found that when they returned,


it had resolved the issue, and the second boiler had been restored to full working order as well. This saved the client having to spend potentially tens of thousands of pounds.


New data shows domestic combustion emissions are falling


The latest UK Government statistics suggest that particulate emissions from domestic combustion have fallen A


ccording to Emissions of air pollutants in the UK – Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), emissions from the sector fell by 7.4% between 2023 and 2024, continuing a downward trend.


The Stove Industry Association suggests the


latest fi gures provide further evidence that the transition to modern appliances, improved fuel quality and better burning practices is delivering measurable air quality improvements. Commenting on the fi gures, Erica Malkin,


executive director of the SIA, said: “A 7.4% reduction in a single year is signifi cant – around twice the overall UK reduction rate over the same period. It shows the sector is improving rapidly as older appliances are replaced and best-practice use becomes more widely understood. Better appliance technology, improved fuel quality and consumer awareness are all working together.” Over the past decade the UK has seen a steady


replacement of older heating appliances with modern Ecodesign compliant stoves and certifi ed


clear — as the installed appliance base modernises and consumers adopt better fuels and burning practices, emissions continue to decline. The latest data suggests these changes are delivering sustained improvements rather than short-term variation.”


The latest dataset also expands the scope of domestic combustion to include outdoor burning sources such as fi re pits and chimineas which were previously allocated to a diff erent inventory code. Despite this broader accounting boundary, emissions from the category have still fallen year- on-year.


fuels, which are designed to be signifi cantly lower emitting and more effi cient than legacy heating technologies, particularly open fi res and older stoves. Erica added: “The long-term direction of travel is


A detailed breakdown of emissions by appliance and fuel type will be available when the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) data tables are released. Erica concluded: “We look forward to examining the full dataset when the detailed tables are released. This will allow a deeper understanding of how diff erent technologies and fuels contribute to the continued reductions.”


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