FAQs

General FAQs

Often our Engineers will be able to give you a budget cost when they visit, for example if they’ve worked on a similar project.  However, a properly specified & costed design will take a little longer.  That said, an engineered solution will often save you money in the long run, especially when you look at energy saving options.

We keep a selection of units in stock, along with spare parts.  Delivery is dependent on the type of equipment required and whether you need installation & commissioning.  Custom designed systems can take a few months.  If lead time is key our Hire team can get you up and running with rental equipment to bridge the gap until your new kit is ready to be installed.  

Yes, we have teams based across the UK to help you with Hire, Sales and Service requirements.    If you are in a particularly remote area, our Service team will use one of our appointed Agents for aftersales to ensure you get the support you need quickly and in the most cost-effective way.

Our Service Engineers are always growing in number, in line with the growth of our business, so the exact number is always changing.  However, as a rule of thumb, we locate our Engineers across the UK within a 50-mile radius of each other.  That way, when customers need support, an Engineer is never far away!

Not a problem.  Your call will be automatically diverted to our out of hours call centre where it will be passed to one of our on-call Service Engineers who will talk to you over the telephone. Depending on whether you have a Planned Preventative Maintenance contract with us, or how serious the issue is, will determine whether we get to your site within six hours or the next working day.

Our call out rates for emergency breakdowns vary according to whether you have taken out one of our Planned Preventative Maintenance contracts.  We do not charge a minimum call out fee and if you have taken out a contract with us you will automatically benefit from lower hourly rates and priority response to unplanned outages.

This is largely driven by the seriousness of the issue and whether you are a Planned Preventative Maintenance contract customer.   Generally, a visit to site by the next working day is normal, however, a quicker response may be available depending on your specific circumstances.  Customers on a Premium or Premium Plus plan will benefit from a six-hour response.

All our Service Engineers are technical specialists. They are F-Gas accredited and carry the necessary skills cards to enable them to work on a wide range of temperature control equipment and sites. Aqua is REFCOM and Safe Contractor accredited.  Engineers working on gas appliances for our Hire division will be Gas Safe registered.  

Call us on 0333 004 4433 (option 3) to speak to one of our Service Co-ordinators and we will get you set up on our system.  Alternatively, you can email us at service@aquacooling.co.uk 

Of course!  If we can get a full understanding of the issues being experienced, we can talk you through how to troubleshoot and remedy simple issues.  However, if this is not possible, then we can arrange for a Service Engineer to come to site. 

We offer all aspects of aftercare for your temperature control equipment. This includes planned preventative maintenance, coil cleans, oil sampling and changes, water sampling and treatments, vibration analysis, thermal imaging, laser alignment, energy efficiency checks – the list goes on! Whatever it is that you need, Aqua can help.

Yes! Our Service Engineers are fully trained to work on all the main equipment brands, including Airedale, Blue Box/Swegon, Carrier, Climaveneta, Corema, Hiross, MTA, Nova Frigo, Stulz, Trane, Smardt and York as well as our own Aqua and Hitema units.  If specialist support is required, such as with ammonia chillers, we enlist the help of our dedicated service partners.  We can also access replacement parts for all makes.  

Product FAQs

Generally, we just need to know two out of three variables – kW, flow rate and/or temperatures (inlet/outlet).  These will be specific to your process and equipment.  Any two of these figures will be enough for our Engineers to do some clever maths and work out your required kW duty!  Other factors do have a bearing on the final figure, for example, the time frame you have for cooling from a to b, but our Engineers will fathom that all out for you, they are great with numbers!

Air flow and space are important here.  Air cooled chillers need space for the air to be drawn in over the condensers, most factory environments stipulate 1 metre all around a chiller.  You also need to allow room for an Engineer to carry out service & maintenance.  Sometimes it is possible for one side of a chiller to be flush to a wall, but you need to allow for pipework and access points.  If you are limited on space let our Engineers know and they will be able to come up with options and work arounds.

The inspection and treatment protocol for cooling towers is set out in legislation to ensure the equipment is safe and legionella free.   By their very nature, cooling towers evaporate water on a regular basis.  The evaporation process itself also leaves residual salts behind which means bleeding additional water to eliminate salt build up.  When this water is replaced, it needs to be correctly treated and the process is ongoing.   Mandatory inspections will be the same for a 500kW tower as for a 50MW installation, so costs can really impact if you have a smaller tower.  For some customers cooling towers are the best solution, however we can offer alternatives such as adiabatic units – our sales team will happily talk you through the benefits of each. 

This will be dictated by your process and the size of your equipment, as these determine the amount of heat rejected.  Our Engineers will help you with these calculations.

Antifreeze – often referred to as glycol – prevents the water in your cooling equipment from freezing.  We recommend adding antifreeze if the chilled water supply temperature is less than 7˚C.  We also suggest adding antifreeze to all externally sited units.  There are different types available – the most common being ethylene glycol – but we can supply alternatives such as food safe grade.

No, a chiller does not use water.  Water is however constantly recirculated around a cooling system, from the chiller to the process and back again.

A chiller unit removes heat from the process water, the heat is transferred into the refrigeration circuit and then rejected again.  At this point an air-cooled chiller will reject the heat into the surrounding air by using fans.  A water-cooled unit will reject the heat into a separate warmer water circuit and through an external component such as a dry air cooler.

This is so difficult to answer without knowing the exact size and specification of your equipment.  However, our Engineers will be able to help you with this once they understand your site.  They will even work out how much power (and £) your new system will save you and how quickly you will achieve pay back on your investment. 

Any system will require a recirculation pump which can be either part of the chiller or external to it.  A buffer vessel is recommended for most applications, as it provide more stable temperature control and enhances efficiencies.  Again, a buffer vessel can be supplied integral to the chiller unit or just as part of the on-site installation.  

Hire FAQs

Aqua offer equipment hire on short, medium and long term agreements. For some customers renting equipment on a long-term basis simply suits their business model better than outright purchase. But if you would prefer to buy your equipment then our Sales team will be more than happy to help!

Our rental customers benefit from 24/7 support, 365 days of the year.  Just call our Hire desk – 0333 004 4433 – and the team will be on hand to support you.  

Whether you are looking to rent or purchase your temperature control equipment we understand that upfront price is always important.  However, there’s lots of other ways we can help you reduce your costs and save money overall.  If you rent from our hire fleet you benefit from equipment which incorporates the very latest energy saving technology, so reducing operating costs.  Long term hire can also be tax efficient for businesses – ask our Hire team for more info.  In addition, we have customers who invest in energy efficient cooling systems and free cooling chillers who recoup their investment quickly and then keep on saving on energy costs year after year – our Sales team will happily talk you through options and examples. 

We pride ourselves on being temperature control specialists and this blog article tries to explain why we feel you should use Aqua – https://www.aquacooling.co.uk/news/why-should-you-trust-aqua-cooling-for-your-temperature-control-hire-solutions/ 

In the unlikely event that something should happen, just call us and the team will get you back up and running.  We offer 24/7 support, every day of the year.  If it is a quick fix then we will send an Engineer to site, if not then we will simply replace your equipment.

That depends on whether you are looking for cooling or heating equipment and the type of project.  But if you call our Hire desk on 0333 004 4433 one of our Hire Engineers will be able to guide you right through the process from product selection to delivery and installation.  

No, unlike many of our competitors we don’t charge for contingency planning.  We only charge if you hire the equipment from us.  If you would like a contingency plan, an Engineer will come to site, look at your set up, work out exactly what equipment you will need and how it would be installed. This will all be agreed and documented to you, completely free of charge!  We then manage our fleet to ensure that the equipment you need is quickly available should you ever need it.