BBSM Ltd has been awarded a contract to provide a new high-efficiency biomass boiler system to heat the community open air pool at Portishead near Bristol. The 33m pool is owned and run by the Portishead Pool Community Trust and is a wonderful facility for the town.
The pool dates from 1962 and was a roaring success counting more than 250,000 visitors in its first 2 years of operation. And that’s when the pool was a mere 21 degrees centigrade, thanks to hot water created as a byproduct at the local phosphorus plant and tankered in four to five times a day. Fortunately, when the factory closed in 1969, two oil-fired boilers were installed. The main heat load was replaced in 2010 by a single high efficiency biomass boiler, with the oil boilers remaining as backup, providing a pool temperature at a very comfortable 28-29°C.
15 years after the first biomass boiler was installed, the backup oil boilers have finally been removed and a new lead biomass boiler is being installed, with the original biomass boiler remaining as back up. The pool is also undergoing a major refurbishment and is being closed from 1st September and expected to re-open in time for Christmas.