Case Study: The LC Swansea

* Annual estimated savings based on data collected.

About Freedom Leisure
Freedom Leisure is a not-for-profit leisure trust which manages leisure and cultural facilities on behalf of partners across the UK. They are committed to improving lives through leisure by providing a first class leisure service. The LC Gym Swansea is home to Wales’ biggest indoor Waterpark, Swansea’s most state-of-theart gym and now TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice award winner. The LC has recently undergone a £600,000 gym refurbishment.

Facilities:
• One of the largest facilities in Swansea
• Two-storey gym
• Sports and Exhibition Hall
• Over 130 fitness classes

Project summary
As a preferred supplier to Freedom Leisure, Kelda Technology was invited to help improve operational efficiency at The LC Swansea. A total of 24 showers were designated to be replaced in the Village changing rooms. Kelda’s audit recommended that the conventional showers be replaced with Kelda’s innovative water-saving showers – designed to use significantly less water without sacrificing on experience. The upgrade was an investment in its members’ fitness journey, helping to improve member retention and continue to deliver a sustainable first class service.

Our approach
Kelda Technology is the pioneer of innovative water-saving showers. With greater power than a traditional shower, Kelda’s Air-Powered showers satisfy expectations of both high performance, efficiency and environmental integrity. By applying innovative technology Kelda is able to offer a shower solution that for the first time can help significantly reduce water and energy consumption, and in the process reduce carbon emissions. And all of this is done without sacrificing user experience.

Process
1. Establish the Baseline Flow Rate (BFR) of current showers
2. Understand showering behaviour
3. Prepare Water & Energy Estimation – detailing annual savings
4. Roll-out with full training, marketing support and handover

Challenge
Kelda Technology’s brief was to reduce water and energy consumption without affecting experience and member satisfaction. The previously installed conventional “inefficient” showers were at the end of their life cycle and delivered high flows rate between 14-16 litres per minute. As part of LC Swansea’s refurbishment project twenty-four showers were designated to be replaced with Kelda’s next-generation water saving shower system. Kelda’s E3 shower technology has been proven to significantly reduce water consumption without compromising experience.

Installation
Twenty-four of Kelda’s innovative water-saving showers were installed in the Village changing rooms. The E3 Fixed – CV model was specified due to the presence of a ceiling void and ease of installation. The works were completed out of hours by Kelda’s recommended MEP contractor so as not to disrupt the day-to-day business. Each shower was supplied with blended water from a group mixer. For further simplification and to keep costs down the existing timed-flow PIR sensors were used, set to 30s, to further promote water reduction.

Results
Kelda showers set to a flow rate of 5 litres per minute (equivalent spray force of 10 litres per minute) were installed without any compromise to shower experience. Customer acceptance has been 100%. Early calculations predict that installing Kelda showers will result in a 67% reduction in annual water and energy consumption. Total savings over 5 years is projected to be £114,348 with an ROI of less than 8 months. Annual shower water consumption across the site is estimated to be 10.7 million litres of water per year. By replacing the current shower stock with Kelda Technology showers it is estimated that there will be a reduction of 7.2 million litres of water per year. As a result of using less water and energy, savings in CO2 is equivalent to planting nearly 30,000 trees per year.