FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

All Water Treatment Companies are the same, they just try to sell me as many drums of chemical as they can. What makes Airmec (H2O) Limited different?

The main difference is primarily our philosophy towards water treatment. Our main objectives are to:

• Optimise Plant Efficiency by maintaining clean heat transfer surfaces, i.e. free of scale, corrosion products and biofouling, thereby reducing operating costs, and downtime.
• Maximise Plant Life by controlling corrosion and scale deposition thus reducing the need to replace or repair costly items of equipment, along with the costs associated with plant downtime.

These objectives are achieved through our comprehensive and pro-active Technical Service and specifically formulated state of the art product range.

Airmec (H2O) Limited aim to provide our Customers with a quantifiable return on their investment with us.

The ACOP L8 - isn't it just recommendations?

The Health and Safety Commissions “Legionnaires’ disease – The control of legionella bacteria in water systems APPROVED CODE of PRACTICE and GUIDANCE, L8” gives practical advice on the requirements of:

• The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA)
• The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999 (COSHH)

concerning the risk from exposure to legionella bacteria. The Code also gives guidance on compliance with the relevant parts of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR).

This Code has been approved by the Health and Safety Commission with the consent of the Secretary of State. It gives practical advice on how to comply with the law.

If you follow the advice you will be doing enough to comply with the law in respect of those specific matters on which the Code gives advice. You may use alternative methods to those set out in the Code in order to comply with the law.

However, the Code has a special legal status. If you are prosecuted for breach of health and safety law, and it is proved that you did not follow the relevant provisions of the Code, you will need to show that you have complied with the law in some other way or a Court will find you at fault.

All this focus on Legionella and Legislation, isn’t it just scaremongering?

Admittedly there has been a lot of “focus” on legionella and legislation, and whilst we agree that it is vitally important to have strategies to both control legionella and comply with legislative requirements, legionella control is only one element of a successful total water treatment package.

How Much?

Airmec (H2O) Limited aim to provide our Customers with value for money. Obviously there will be costs involved, and we may not appear to be the “cheapest” option.

However, with our expertise and aims to provide quantifiable returns on our customers’ investment with us, we believe Airmec (H2O) Limited will provide you with a responsible and invaluable Business Partner.

What is this Code of Conduct?

A Code of Conduct for organisations providing services to occupiers/owners of water systems has been developed jointly by the Water Management Society and the British Association for Chemical Specialities (WMS & BACS).

This Code of Conduct does not have any legal status, however it gives guidance to occupiers about the standard of service they will receive from service providers who agree to abide by the Code.

What does a Code of Conduct accredited supplier give me over and above a non-accredited suppier?

The Health and Safety Commissions “Legionnaires’ disease. The control of legionella bacteria in water systems APPROVED CODE of PRACTICE and GUIDANCE, L8” paragraph 51 states:

“The Code of Conduct does not have any legal status under health and safety law, but should help occupiers choose a suitable service provider to help them control the risks from legionella bacteria.”

The main benefit of using a service provider, who agrees to abide by the Code of Conduct, is the peace of mind in knowing that the standard of service you will receive, by trained and competent personnel is professional, externally audited and meets those requirements set out in the Code of Conduct.

Compliance to the Code is independently audited by the Code of Conduct Association. Non-compliance with the requirements of the Code will lead to removal of that service provider.

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