Essex leisure centre announces significant investment in measures to save energy and water to reduce operating costs and CO2 emissions
Leisure World, which operates six facilities in the Colchester area, has announced more than £200,000 of investment at its leisure centre in the heart of the city. The money will help it save energy and water, lowering the costs of running the business.
Photo by Jonathan Borba / Unsplash
The bulk of the funding – £167,636 – has been awarded by Sport England’s Swimming Pool Support Fund. This has been used to install pool covers on the centre’s fitness pool, dive pit and teach pool; the covers reduce both heat loss and water evaporation, ensuring that less gas fuel is used to heat pool water.
What’s more, the installation of 10 energy-efficient motors across the building will better control ventilation across the building and the leisure pool’s wave machine. The key feature of these motors is that they operate at varying speeds depending on demand. That’s led to a 29% reduction in electricity use compared to the centre’s previous motors that ran at full speed all the time
On top of the grant from Sport England, Colchester City Council invested a further £45,500 in an innovative new water filtration system for the centre’s fitness pool. This uses a small electric current and ultraviolet light to separate dissolved waste products and eliminate bacteria from the water. Clean, warm water is then returned to the pool. That means savings in heating needed and in water that would otherwise go into the sewer system.
All together, these interventions are expected to save Leisure World more than £100,000 each year in utility bills. It should also save some the equivalent of 85 tonnes in greenhouse gas emissions.
Cllr Andrea Luxford Vaughan, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Environment and Sustainability at Colchester City Council, says: ‘This investment in energy efficiency at Leisure World is a testament to our commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. By implementing these innovative measures, we are not only reducing our carbon footprint but also achieving significant cost savings. This project exemplifies how we can work together with partners like Sport England to create a more sustainable future for our community.’
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