Rada Service Team keeps busy leisure centre in rude health

Leisure centres are a place for users of all ages to get fit and have fun, particularly busy private facilities like the Castle Country Club in Shrewsbury that boast a large number of members and run activity clubs for children during the school holidays.

With washroom facilities in near constant use, any downtime for maintenance and repairs could mean disgruntled guests or a loss of income for Castle Country Club. Much more important, however, are the potentially life saving consequences of washroom system failure – with scalding and infections like Legionnaire’s Disease a real risk.

Fortunately, Facilities Manager, Colin Pope knows these risks and takes them extremely seriously, so when it came to ensuring the safety and comfort of their members he turned to Rada to find the solution.

Having worked with Rada products throughout a career that has seen him responsible for managing the washroom facilities for more than 120 schools, Mr Pope is well versed in the importance of selecting not only appropriate systems, but ensuring that these systems are properly maintained.

Mr Pope brought his experience of working with Rada products and services to the Castle Country Club nearly two decades ago, where a project to design the pool and changing facilities saw him take on a permanent role at the site.

His knowledge of the demands based on washroom facilities means that robustness, vandal resistance and user safety are all key concerns – though in a private leisure club it doesn’t hurt to use products that are aesthetically pleasing and offer simple, intuitive operation for users. Nowhere is he more conscious of this than in the sites.

The complex’s busy leisure centre boasts 18 Rada Sense digital shower units and Rada 425 thermostatic mixing valves that are in almost constant use across three changing areas. Chartered Engineer Mr Pope felt that while specifying appropriate products designed to withstand this level of use was important, ensuring that the site is safe and can remain operational year-round was vital.

Rada’s team of experts visit the site on six monthly intervals to undergo maintenance work, as well as offering an emergency call out service to undertake immediate repairs using parts direct from Rada’s manufacturing facility in Cheltenham.

Having such a wealth of experience in facilities management, Rada’s visits allow Mr Pope to undertake additional activities, such as nightly duty flushing and monthly water sampling, to safeguard guests from the spread of bacteria like Legionella.

With a 24-hour turnaround for servicing, and a team that have built a strong relationship with Mr Pope and the site’s staff, Rada’s maintenance teams are able to undertake works with minimal disturbance to gym-goers - keeping the club as healthy as its members.