27 institutions in Odense secured against water damage
Beth Werner
Odense Mayor Anker Boye describes the recently concluded cooperation and development project with the local company DanTaet a/s as a real win-win project
27 institutions in Odense Municipality secured against damage caused by leaks and seepage in water and heating systems.
An investment of DKK 50-60,000 that prevents damage that can easily run into half a million kroner or more. Sound too good to be true?
– Actually, it is not, says Jens Oxenvad, an engineer in the Real Estate Department of the City and Culture Administration, Odense Municipality, which has just completed a collaborative project involving a total of 27 municipal institutions with the Odense-based company DanTaet a/s.
DanTaet is a market leader in the development and production of systems and installations that ensure that leaks and seepages in both water and district heating installations are detected immediately. This avoids costly consequential and late damage.
When the alarm goes off, all you have to do is follow the simple three-step guide, explains Gitte Hermansen, manager of Ejerslykke Vuggestue, Mayor Anker Boye.
600 cubic meters of water caused extensive mold damage
– Jotak, we have unfortunately had extensive mold damage in several of the municipality’s institutions. For example, a water pipe leak in a kindergarten caused 600 cubic meters of water to leak into the walls and floors before the leak was detected. This only happened after three months, and the damage was of course extensive at that time, says Jens Oxenvad, adding that in addition to the cost of mold remediation, there are also the costs of rehousing the institution’s users for a shorter or longer period.
The project is part of the municipality’s active risk management work and the systems are now in operation in 18 of the municipality’s 34 primary schools and in nine of a total of 120 childcare centers, including both kindergartens and nurseries.
Few but effective components
The components for leakage protection of domestic water (system KMP-V) and district heating (system KMP-F) are almost identical and consist of electronically controlled shut-off valves, control boxes, outdoor sensors and Kamstrup energy and flow meters.
The two systems have been developed in close cooperation with the company Kamstrup and adapted to their energy and flow meters.
The cooperation project with Odense Municipality has also involved the emergency management authorities, Fjernvarme Fyn, Vandcenter Syd and the Danish Technological Institute.
Always water for fire fighting and cleaning
Tage Laurup, DanTaet’s Sales Director, points up to two motion sensors placed in the ceiling in the middle of the long corridor in Børnehuset, Ejerslykke Vuggestue in Odense and explains:
– Without the two sensors, users wouldn’t get much water, and cleaning staff would struggle to fill the bucket for floor cleaning.
– The sensors detect movement and a message goes to the system in the basement that the institution is now populated and water must be available.
If the nursery’s fire cabinet is opened, the system in the basement will immediately force open its shut-off valve. Then, exceeding the consumption limit will only cause an alarm message while leaving the water flow unaffected. This characteristic is essential for the approval of the security system in the nursery by the emergency authorities.
Extremely user-friendly systems
The user-friendliness of the systems has been crucial for Odense Municipality. Jens Oxenvad says, among other things:
-Nursery and kindergarten managers are not technicians, nor should they be, so systems must be designed to be usable by non-technical staff.
Gitte Hermansen, manager of Ejerslykke Nursery, looks at the two instructions hanging on the wall above the control boxes that provide SMS alerts in case of seepage and leakage respectively.
In addition to Gitte Hermansen, Odense Municipality also receives a text message.
– The instructions seem clear and simple, so I don’t think it will be a problem when the alarm goes off. I can read up on what to do,” she says.
A characteristic that is also shared by the Danish Technological Institute, which has made a general and overall assessment of both the KMP-V and KMP-F plants.
Enthusiastic Mayor
Mayor Anker Boye of Odense Municipality is pleased that the municipality only had to turn the corner, so to speak, to find the perfect partner.
-“The cooperation project increases the safety of the users of our institutions, we avoid wasting precious resources, we prevent costly damages and we help to increase the number of private jobs,” he emphasizes, adding with a wry smile:
– Can we buy some more systems from you?
Engineer Jens Oxenvad, Property in the City and Culture Administration, Odense Municipality at the district heating protection system at Agedrup School, Odense:
– User-friendliness of the facilities has been a high priority – it must be easy and clear for users to react when the alarm goes off.
