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FEATURES
“We’re a laboratory furniture company and fume extraction,
including plumbing. With respect to the plumbing we
would typically directly deal either with the end-user or the
architect. When meeting the client, we would identify their
current supply points and waste points, redo the lab design
and reroute the plumbing back to a supply point that they
provide.” Although the plumbing is relatively simple, the
complexity lies in the design and in the materials used.
Neil Laridon, financial manager
and head of sales at E.C.
Laridon.
Laridon says this area of specialisation is a busy one,
with universities, companies, hospitals, quality testing
bodies and, increasingly, even schools all having a need
for laboratories, large and small, both in South Africa as
well as the rest of Africa. Most companies involved in
consumables and pharmaceuticals have a dual-purpose
laboratory, involved in both the testing of their products and
in research and development.
He relates an important and growing trend: “When E.C.
Laridon consults with end-users, we seek to persuade them
to design the laboratory with sufficient flexibility to cater
for future developments, thereby giving the facility greater
longevity. We get involved in the design as lab specialists
and giving recommendations – as we have greater
expertise in this area than most designers. We would
propose layouts, the materials to use for their benchtops
and piping, and discuss with the end user the flow of the
laboratory, to come up with a final design,” says Laridon.
“The most important part of any lab is the work surfaces,
where there’s been a drive towards using composite
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materials using phenolic resins (synthetic polymers
obtained by the reaction of phenol or substituted phenol
with formaldehyde) which is extremely chemical- and
acid-resistant, hard and durable - but expensive.” In
terms of plumbing, it is relatively straightforward –
water supply tends not to vary much from application
to application, unless you’re dealing with a specialised
water usage such as reverse osmosis, which purifies the
water and pumps it through its own pipe to a tap.
“But waste is drastically different. A lot of older labs still
have PVC pipes, but these tend to sag over time. The
trend internationally over the last five years is to go for
polypropylene (companies such as Broen Lab for sinks
and traps, and Vulkathene) and polyethylene (Geberit
for mechanical fittings), both of which are resistant to
chemicals, with both companies offering a complete
range of pipes and fittings which do not require welding
or glues to fit together. The [Geberit] system allows
greater flexibility for plumbers doing maintenance and
clearing blockages as it is a screw-on system – and
just needs to be unscrewed rather than cutting and
welding. However, the cost is significantly higher
than for PVC.” These are all European trends
and standards.
“A lot of newer labs are looking at introducing
‘neutralisation’ systems in their premises. This means
wastewater from the laboratory and even certain
hazardous substances within manufacturing, can be
carried harmlessly from the lab to a point where it is
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October 2019 Volume 25 I Number 8