News

Watling Hope's GRU systems solve drainage problems at Hever Castle- childhood home of Anne Boleyn

10 January 2012

Kent, UK

HEVER CASTLE sits in the Kent countryside in the village of Hever. Lavished with antiques and works of art, surrounded by beautiful and extensive gardens and steeped in history, Hever Castle is an excellent destination for a day out or location for a special function.

The castle is best known as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the second and arguably most influential wife of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I. It was at Hever Castle that Anne first met Henry who became infatuated with her after his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, failed to provide him with a male heir and he tired of his former mistress, Anne's sister, Mary.

Owing to the success of the Castle as a tourist attraction the drainage system had began to suffer from a much more modern problem - a build up of fat, oil and grease (FOG).

The build-up of fat, oil and grease was affecting Hever Castle's onsite sewage treatment plant and causing concerns for the sites management.

Fat, oil and grease (FOG) was entering the drainage system through the washing of pots and pans in the Castle’s catering facilities, this was then washing through and accumulating in the site’s biological sewage treatment plant.

Its presence in the plant was affecting the system's operation and performance and the Estate Maintenance Manager was keen to address the problem.

Watling Hope were contacted and conducted a full survey of the site at no cost to the client.

The key areas of FOG generation were identified and Watling Hope submitted a proposal to install automatic grease removal units in key areas to remove fat, oil and grease at source.

After careful consideration Hever Castle’s maintenance manager instructed Watling Hope to proceed with the installation. A total of three Watling Hope Grease Shield® GRU units were installed.

Works were carried out by Watling Hope’s installation engineers with minimal disruption to site operation and with full consideration of the sites historic importance.

The equipment was then handed over to the Castle with full training provided to the kitchen staff.

Over the course of the first month each unit has shown to recover on average 2 litres of fat, oil and grease from the site’s wastewater. 

In addition at the end of the first month there was no further contamination of fat, oil and grease in the site’s sewage treatment plant and Hever Castle are very happy with Watling Hope’s service.

The Estate Maintenance Manager at Hever Castle comments:

“The sewage treatment plant we have on site was continually experiencing problems related to the build up of fats, oils and grease. After looking at various options we instructed Watling Hope to install their recommendations of 3 No. Grease Shield systems. The installation of the equipment was carried out in a very professional manner and all units are working well. 

The Grease Shields are each removing approx 2 litres of grease per day and since the units were fitted the sites drains have remained grease-free.

I have found Watling Hope to be a very professional organisation and have been impressed with their focus on ensuring their customers are happy”.

Watling Hope’s Managing Director Edward Palin commented “Naturally Watling Hope are delighted to have solved the problem onsite and to have helped protect the drains of a national treasure such as Hever Castle”.

For further details of this project or to discuss how Watling Hope can help you solve your FOG problems please contact us on 01789 740757.