University of Leeds: safe and reliable washrooms delivered for students
Rada products help University of Leeds meet water hygiene, usage and aesthetic requirements.
The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK and is renowned for the quality of its teaching and research. Both its academic facilities and its communal spaces are central to its reputation.
Montague Burton, one of the university's student halls of residence, offers comfortable accommodation with a strong community feel. Its facilities and communal spaces are carefully designed to help create a welcoming, homely environment, while also being able to meet the high demands of a busy student environment. And its washroom facilities, which include communal bathrooms and wash basins in each of the 467 rooms, are a key part of that.
The challenges of a student environment
As part of its continual review of providing safe and clean water for students, the university's water quality management team identified a problem with the previous taps in Montague Burton.
With the complicated flow straightener and regulator situated in the spout, the team was concerned that this offered an opportunity for bacteria to settle and presented a risk of Legionella forming. It also meant they were difficult to maintain and clean.
Tony Peace, mechanical services design engineer at the university, explains: "Anywhere there is warm water and lots of people creates the potential for bacteria growth and infection, and we need products that are robust enough to ensure our students are always safe.
"When the water quality management team raised concerns about the safety of the previous taps, we turned to Rada for advice on how to address the situation."
While safety was a key driver, the university also had a range of other needs, as Tony explains.
"The communal bathrooms in Montague Burton are used day in, day out. We wanted products that would stand-up to the high demand of a busy student environment, but also look great and be easy to use. Commercial level performance with a domestic feel is important as our accommodation is like a home-from-home for our students.
"At the same time, water efficiency was a further target as the university has sustainability goals that we need to meet."
In addition to new taps, the university also asked Rada to specify new showers for the halls, providing a complete overhaul for the existing facilities.
Problems solved
To ensure the university's varied demands were all met, Rada specified a range of products including taps from Mira, its sister business focused on residential applications.
Mira Evolve basin taps are made from high quality materials to stand up to the demanding environment and are designed to avoid water pooling inside the tap, limiting the opportunity for bacteria growth. Its domestic design is also in keeping with the homely environment the university has created in its halls.
For the showers, Rada specified heavy-duty kits designed to withstand heavy usage. These were twinned with thermostatic mixing valves, which ensure water is delivered consistently at a safe temperature and prevent the risk of scalding.
Tony comments: "Our products need to meet our water hygiene, usage and aesthetic requirements, which is a tough brief but one that Rada's products have achieved. We've received great feedback and have peace of mind that the taps and showers are safe and reliable for our students to use.
"We're looking forward to continuing to work with Rada in the future."
"We wanted products that would stand-up to the high demand of a busy student environment, but also look great and be easy to use. Commercial level performance with a domestic feel is important as our accommodation is like a home-from-home for our students."
Tony Peace, mechanical services design engineer, University of Leeds
