Life and near-death for oilman in round - Downstream Magazine

Tanks, storage & monitoring
Safer water supplies call for bunded tanks
BUILDING REGULATION changes
designed to protect water supplies
could be a boon to bunded tank
manufacturers.
From the beginning of October, changes
to the Building Regulations Part J mean
all new and replacement household oil
tanks of between 2,500 and 3,500 litres
have had to be bunded if they’re in one
of the Environment Agency’s Source
Protection Zones (SPZs). Around 2,000
zones have been created to protect
groundwater sources. Tanks between 90
and 2,500 litres should be subject to a
risk assessment by installers, but in
practice that means fitting bunded
tanks in almost all cases.
It’s the most important change to
domestic oil tank installation in almost a
decade, according to Harlequin’s John
Switzer. “Groundwater provides around
35% of the drinking water supplied
nationally, rising to as high as 80% of
total drinking water supplies in some
areas of southern England,” says John.
“To ensure that drinking water remains
safe to drink, it is imperative that such
zones, which include wells, boreholes
and springs, are actively managed and
adequately protected.”
He and other manufacturers have been
quick off the mark to recognise the
potential for the business. Kingspan
Environmental’s sales director Tony
Soper explains: “It is extremely
important that all oil tank installations
comply with the changes to the
Building Regulations Part J to avoid
polluting drinking water. Installing a
Titan EcoSafe tank in an SPZ will protect
the water source and provide peace of
mind for the installer and property
owner,” says Tony. John Switzer says:
“As an environmentally responsible
manufacturer, we warmly welcome the
introduction of the revised regulations,
which will serve to further minimise the
impact of oil upon the environment.”
“For oil storage tank installers and oil
heating technicians, the easiest way to
ensure compliance with secondary
containment requirements is to install
an integrally bunded tank, such as a
Harlequin Advance, Basic or Polyrock
bunded tank.”
“Harlequin bunded tanks are available
in a choice of capacities from 350 litres
to over 10,000 litres. Irrespective of
model, specification or capacity chosen,
they comply fully with all applicable
requirements and when installed by a
Cameron makes fuelling plain ‘Salen’ for boat owners
THE NEW OWNERS of a lochside jetty in
the remote Scottish Highlands are
providing sailing craft and commercial
boats with the only fuelling facility for
miles following the installation of
equipment from Cameron Forecourt.
The commercial fuelling specialists
answered an SOS from Mark and Jan
Drury when they took over Salen Jetty
on Loch Sunart in Argyll.
Due to the distance involved, Cameron
worked from plans and photographs to
design a bespoke fuelling facility to
replace an old installation at the jetty,
the only source of marine diesel on the
25-mile long sea loch.
Explains Jan: “We realised the existing
equipment was no longer suitable
because the tank wasn’t bunded,
therefore posing a potential pollution
hazard to the adjacent loch, and it was
obvious that the old pump had seen far
better days.”
The new system features an above
ground PPG compliant bunded tank,
feeding a Hytek Alpha 70R Board of
Trade approved pump. A pressure
regulating valve is installed into the
suction line to comply with Board Of
Trade regulations and to provide further
A yacht refuels at Salen Jetty using the Cameron Forecourt installation (inset)
environmental protection against fuel
leaks.
“We moved up here from Yorkshire
when we saw the jetty advertised on the
internet,” adds Jan. “We felt it was our
duty to maintain and improve a service
to the commercial boats and pleasure
craft using the loch. Word is getting
round that we have a new, totally clean
and reliable fuel installation via which
we can provide a good service to the
yachts and working boats.”
Barry Jenner of Cameron Forecourt
comments: “This is one of the more
remote installations we have
undertaken. We went into fine detail to
ensure that a full turnkey system, down
to the last nut and bolt, was delivered to
site and successfully installed in one
visit.”
MORE INFORMATION
www.cameron-forecourt.co.uk
Downstream Winter 2010 22 www.downstreammagazine.co.uk