Dozens of team members at a process filter manufacturer have stepped inside a mobile container that helps deliver their technology to UK water companies.
In emergencies such as floods, droughts and other interruptions, millions of households and businesses rely on the quality of drinking water supplied through filtration equipment housed in ‘R31 containers’.
Filter maker Amazon Filters recently hosted a visit by a container at its Camberley, Surrey, production centre, giving colleagues from various departments a behind-the-scenes chance to see how their cartridges and housings operate in situ.
An ‘R31 container’ is so-called because it conforms to an approved list of products and materials for the supply of public drinking water set down under Regulation 31 of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016.
Amazon Filters’ SupaSpun II absolute-rated depth filters are also on the approved list and therefore installed in an R31 container.
They are used by water companies to maintain public supplies while combating issues such as turbidity, high metal levels and contamination.
The container on display at Camberley is 30 feet long, eight feet wide and 9.5 feet tall. It is longer than the standard 26-foot length as it has a modified manifold pipe layout.
The unit contains six 6540 housings that each have 40 Code A cartridges extending to 40 inches inside. This means 240 cartridges can be in use at any one time.
All the housings, pipes and cartridges are made in-house at Amazon Filters. The container supply partner installs the equipment with careful reference to designs and drawings provided by the Amazon Filters team.
Project Engineer Dalvir Ubhi, who co-ordinated the container’s visit and led the display, said:
“The manifold pipes bend 90 degrees toward the longer side of the container, rather than going out straight through the short wall.
“We also provide a set of platform steps to allow any engineer a safe way to access the cartridges for maintenance or replacement.
“R31 containers are used for both emergencies and regular supply activity and are mobile installations so can be moved from site to site as required.
“It was a pleasure and privilege to give colleagues a behind-the-scenes look inside an R31 container.
“There was a great deal of interest from the team with people having to queue up to go in at busy times.”
Amazon Filters has made and supplied filtration solutions to the water industry in the UK and Europe for nearly 40 years.
Based on flow rates and projections, cartridge filtration from the firm has seen more than 350 billion litres of water filtered by UK water companies in the past year, ensuring a safe, clean and consistent supply to tens of millions of homes and businesses.
The firm saw a marked rise in enquiries and orders as water companies doubled down on resilience after the summer 2024 cryptosporidium outbreak in south Devon.
Engineers turned round three immediate orders for skid rentals in the south of England including one they readied for emergency collection on a Sunday evening.
At the same time, a rental skid that had been in use and returned for refurbishment was purchased by a water company for permanent deployment.
Amazon Filters released a sustainable polypropylene version of SupaSpun II in March 2024 which has since gained official safety certification for use in the gas and water sectors in Germany from standards body DVGW.
