What you need to know
Thames Valley Mechanical pride themselves on providing high quality plumbing and heating installation services. With this comes high quality products.
Project Overview:
Thames Valley looked for an alternative material to copper to complete a 85-bed new build at Kailash Manor Care Home.
Wavin were called upon for their Tigris K1 and Hep2O product range, after demonstrating impressive technical literature.
The Challenges
Thames Valley were focused on offering a cost effective solution, but without compromise to quality and performance.
Copper was considered for the project initially, but increasing and fluctuating prices led them to look at alternative options when specifying the product for the project.
Thames Valley also wanted to minimise complexity, and using copper products, multiple manufacturers would have to be used, which had the potential to delay the project and add cost.
Another consideration was the possibility of copper theft from the site which has been seen as an increasing problem, with metal theft offences across England and Wales are at their highest since 2016/17.
The Solution
Wavin suggested the use of the Tigris multi-layer (MLCP) press-fit product as an alternative to copper, alongside Hep2O plastic push-fit to provide an integrated and cost effective solution. Using an alternative material meant that Thames Valley benefited from;
- Lower installed cost
- Fast efficient installation with no hot works
- Reduced risk of site theft
- Reduced excess product waste
Thames Valley could also streamline their supply chain by buying product from a single merchant.
The local Wavin Technical Sales Manager, had developed a close relationship to the PVC Supplies branch and worked with them to ensure product availability and the smooth running of the project from beginning to end.
As a long established and trusted supplier, Wavin products gave Thames Valley reassurance that they were using high quality, tried and tested materials.
All products are WRAS-approved and come with industry leading product guarantees giving further assurance.
As this was the first installation with Wavin products, Thames Valley were given training on both the products and the best methods of installation. Wavin also provided a free of charge Press tool when required spend had been reached.
Hep2o Push-fit Plumbing
Product features
- Secure joint recognition with In4sure™
- Demounting made easy with the HepKey™
- 50 year guarantee
Wavin Tigris Press-fit Plumbing
Product features
- Defined-leak window reveals unpressed fittings at pressure test.
- Patented hexagonal nose reduces push-in force.
- Robust PPSU fitting for corrosion and temperature resistance.
- Available in sizes 16 - 75mm.
"I have used Wavin K1 now since 2021, when I specified it for an 85 Bedroom Care Home.
I’ve used Wavin products before, but I wasn’t familiar with this particular system, Martin Day my Wavin contact, showed me the product and I was impressed with it, particularly how cost effective it was compared to similar products on the market.
We used it for the domestic and heating pipework, sizes from 20mm up to 63mm and once tested and commissioned the system was put to use around 18 months ago and so far we’ve had no issues.
On the odd occasion where we’ve had a small issue regarding delivery’s, particularly where we’ve needed fittings to site quickly, Martin has been extremely helpful, going out of his way to sort this out.
I’ve now used this product on a 2nd Care Home Project I’m involved in and again it’s proved to be a great system."
Rob Saunders -Director
Thames Valley Mechanical Ltd