Glen Simpson, UK manager of ENWA, the water treatment company has spent the last nine years working to clean up closed loop heating and cooling systems. And, if the increasing turnover and extra staff are anything to go by, he is not doing too badly. Paul Braithwaite reports
WATER TREATMENT company ENWA is growing. It has recently recruited two more sales engineers and is, potentially, looking for another by the end of the year in spite of the economic downturn.
Glen Simpson, ENWA’s UK manager, is pleased with its progress. He has been working for the Norwegian water treatment company since 1999, first in Norway and then, when it was ready, in the UK. Even then, it took a couple of years before the company was ready to push its products for the UK. Simpson was instrumental in the UK launch.
One of his jobs in Norway was to research products for the company to expand into the UK.
“We looked at the products which the company had, such as reverse osmosis, different types of mechanical filtration and different types of treatment for potable water,” says Simpson. “But there was one technology, the ENWAmatic which combined various treatment regimes and which could be used to prevent corrosion in closed loop systems.”
Detnorske Veritag trialled the product successfully in Norway and marketed it there.
Niche market
“It was also the only product which would have a niche market in the UK. There were already companies selling reverse osmosis and water softeners in the UK.”
But first ENWA wanted to make sure the product would be a success. It initiated a number of pilot schemes including one with the Cranfield School of Water Sciences.
This looked at the how effective the ENWAmatic was at reducing the potential for scaling in systems.
Simpson says the company had to build up its credibility here.
He relocated to the UK and started ENWA UK in 2001. Initially, it was a case of co-ordinating the pilot schemes, especially the Cranfield trial.
“For the company it was a very low risk.”
Needless to say, the Cranfield trial was a success and Simpson began the task of contacting the consultants. He says they began to recognise the product around the middle of 2003.
“It was slow initially but we had to make sure whatever we did was going to stand up. A lot of physical water treatment devices had come on to the market and some had worked and some hadn’t.”
This had left many people sceptical, he adds. “The conventional approach to water treatment is to use standard chemical additives as well as in-line filtration.”
The ENWAmatic is different, the product had to work.
Simpson admits that other companies might have thrown money at the problem but that was not the way the Norwegian parent wanted to play it.
“It paid off as the parent group’s turnover was just shy of £21M last year.”
And there is a big push for expansion. The UK company had its best year last year with turnover ahead of budget.
“And this year, even with the state of the market, it is on-target to at least hit budget.”
Further, the company has just recruited to push ENWA in the Middle East. Simpson is the one who appointed the person for the area.
“There is a big cooling market over there. We have had a lot of consultants asking us to provide proposals for jobs in Dubai.”
Initially the idea is for ENWA UK to provide support for ENWA Middle East. Also the Norwegian parent will be selling more of its products into Dubai, such as reverse osmosis and biological filtration.
“We will also look at taking some of these products for the UK.”
From just Simpson when he started in the UK, there are now six staff and, if the growth rate continues, he will take on another sales person in January. Earlier this year he took on one extra sales person and a service engineer. The service/ after sales department has a service technician and service sales manager. Both have the technical ability to go to site if necessary.
“All units require commissioning and all need an annual service.”
ENWA does not undertake installation. It has eight approved installers across the country with which the company works.
“New build is not usually an issue but if it is retrofit, then ENWA would recommend an installer.”
However, Simpson assures the ENWAmatic is simple to install as it can “hot-tap” into existing systems with little interruption.
“So for an hotel, there will be virtually no interruption to the service.”
He adds that any in-line filtration system would have to be drained down so that it can be fitted.
For retrofit, the system is first surveyed – free.
“One of the salemen would identify the problem – be it high levels of particulates or scaling or whatever – and provide a solution which could be retrofitted without any real impact.”
This, he says, reduces any requirement for flushing. Simpson cites the case of the condenser unit in Debenhams store in Glasgow where 80 terminal units were mostly out of use and would need flushing out.
Instead, ENWA installed its unit. First it surveyed the water which was found to have a count of 1000mg/l of iron which, he says, was very high.
“By intensive back-washing, ENWA was able to stabilise the chemistry and clean the system. The company was then able to identify that only 12 heat exchangers were still blocked.”
So rather than having to flush 80 units, Debenhams needed only to flush 12 terminal units. So what would have cost £300,000 ended up as a bill for £15,000 which, Simpson insists, is cost effective but, more to the point, had little impact on the store’s operation!
“Because the unit is a side-stream filter, it will take out the particles in the water and concentrate them in the filter itself and, once collected there, the particles are back-washed out of the system using mains cold water.
Clearing the debris
Then the unit goes back on line in its optimal state. The unit filters the water to less than five microns.
“At the same time as it is taking debris out of the system, a reactive bed will prevent the particulates from entering the system so it gets cleaner and cleaner over time. The chemistry is self-regulating which means that if it is stabilised and the water treatment is put in place, then the chemistry will resist any additional make-up water going into the system initially. However, if, for instance, there is a leak, it will actively dissolve more media bed to bring the chemistry back in line.”
By contrast, a standard chemical system would have to be constantly monitored and topped up.
Initially, some 99% of installations were retrofits. Now, he adds, around 20-25% of proposals are for new build projects and this is down to the work the company has been doing with consultants. And the retrofit work has increased too.
BSRIA has also been advocating side-stream filtration, says Simpson, and if there is to be a conventional chemical treatment, then suitable and adequate filtration is also required to make sure the chemical is getting to a clean internal surface so that it can do its job. A clean system means the slime generated by pseudomonas is easier to keep under control.
“For us at ENWA it is just another problem we have to be aware of. It can also have a impact on transfer efficiency.”
Further, the economic downturn could be good for ENWA.
“With purse strings tightening, the market will not be able to spend and replace, so it is a case of making the plant is as efficient as can be.”
Key again here is water quality. Take schools, for instance. Local authorities have a budget to replace a set number of boilers every year.
“But for many, rather than replacing the boiler, fitting the ENWA filter to bring the water up to scratch, will make the system more efficient and the boiler could last for at least a couple of years more.”
As well as talking to the consultants, who are, Simpson says, for the long term, it is also a case of dealing with the contractors. Here, the ENWA solution may be more immediate. The contractor may have a problem on a job and he needs filtration to solve it. Step forward ENWA.
Plus, another route to market is on the maintenance tside in places such as hospital and care homes. The company has framework agreements with, for instance, a pre-commissioning cleaning company which sees the merits of not only cleaning the water but also improving the quality.
As for the future, the Norwegian parent already owns a company which makes district heating schemes and one which makes reverse osmosis products.
And with the parent company set to quadruple turnover in four years, there will be more acquisitions as well as organic growth.
And Simpson is not ruling out UK acquisitions if the products and the price are right.
Currently Simpson says ENWA is “barely scratching the surface”.
“Last year ENWA UK doubled its turnover. The new ENWAmatic was launched and if the market continues to expand, there is no reason it won’t double again.”
He adds that from a consultant’s point of view, if the new system is automated and can be linked to the BMS, then it is a win–win situation.