Plumbing Africa April 2018 | Page 39

PROJECT The water is then pumped via the Grundfos hydro multi-B pump set in a 63mm HDPE pipe below the ground to various parts of the property. More than 600 metres of pipe were laid in the ground. Carrying out this extensive work eliminated the need to rely on existing unreliable infrastructure to supply the project with water. External sewerage installation Castle Kyalami is situated in a remote area and has no existing council sewer connection. The sewer waste is disposed of in two ways: • The waste from the main building is disposed of through sewer septic pumps, where all the drainage in the castle is directed into two sewer sump pits. From these pits, the waste is pumped via a Xylem Flygt sump pump up and over the hill, into the municipal sewer system in Kyalami Business Park. The waste has to travel through 500 metres of 100mm galvanised pipework above ground before reaching the municipal sewer system. • In areas that are low lying on the project, sewer waste is fed to the Calcamite Bio-Mite septic tanks — which is the second sewer waste disposal method. The tanks are unique in that they do not need to be serviced regularly. The Bio-Mite incorporates a biological process to clean incoming wastewater. In this process, a biomass of bacteria breaks down biodegradable waste and converts it into carbon dioxide and water. 37 Internal plumbing installation The internal plumbing installation of the Castle Kyalami project comprised removing all existing plumbing services, only keeping sewer pipes that could not be moved. In the process of the installation, GDM Plumbing installed over 2.7km of Geberit Mepla water pipe to bring the system back to SANS standards and quality. A full renovation was done on the 24 hotel suites and conference centre, including a complete catering kitchen and new office building. Hot water system Hot water is supplied to the castle via 25 Kwikot heat pumps and geysers of various sizes. PRODUCT USE Following the client brief, products with reliable and renowned quality and customer service were selected. The products included sanitaryware from Duravit, tapware from Grohe, built-in systems from Geberit, geysers and heat pumps from Kwikot, pumps from Grundfos, and septic tanks from Calcamite. ELECTRICITY USE AND SUSTAINABILITY During this proje ct, 25 heat pumps and geysers were installed. The heat pumps in particular have a significant impact on reduced energy consumption of the castle. The heat pumps are used to remove the electrical load from the geysers, therefore using less electricity throughout the building. Continued on page 39 >> 2 1. 2. Geberit shut-off valve and Mepla pipe installation. Vulcan sink unit with cobra tap. www.plumbingafrica.co.za April 2018 Volume 24 I Number 2