Cadw

Cadw and MIW

Cadw is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. It is responsible for the upkeep of 22 sites of historical interest across Wales. In 2019, the organisation embarked on a project to reduce litter and improve visitor facilities at eight of its most visited sites, with the introduction of free-to-use public water bottle refill stations. MIW Water Cooler Experts was contracted to implement the project.

The Brief

For this project, Cadw had a very specific set of requirements for MIW.
 

• MIW’s initial role was to supply the Cadw Project Management Team with advice on logistics, equipment specification and installation.

• MIW would need to work across ten diverse sites, assessing each location individually to ensure that water dispensers could be installed safely and effectively without need of any intrusive groundworks.

• The water dispensers installed across the Cadw sites would need to have a bottle refilling provision, comply with all water authority and UK Government health and safety standards, be easy to use, low maintenance, vandal resistant and wheelchair accessible.

• Once the appropriate bottle fillers had been identified, MW would be responsible for sourcing the equipment and arranging an installation timetable to suit both Cadw and the individual site managers.

• Post-installation, MIW would be required to carry out ongoing servicing, maintenance and sanitisation of the bottle fillers.

The Process

Cadw is responsible for some of the most beautiful and most historically important sites in Wales. It was, therefore, extremely important to find positions within those sites that would allow the equipment to be used by all visitors without creating any kind of blot on the landscape. This was the greatest challenge for this project. And the MIW team worked closely with the Cadw Project Management Team and individual location managers to ensure that this was achieved.

Taking into account all of the prerequisites specified by Cadw, MIW recommended the Halsey Taylor Endura II 4405BF tubular bottle filling station for this project. All of the locations involved would require an outdoor rated unit. Made from highly durable powder-coated stainless steel, the Endura II series of bottle fillers are weatherproof and hardwearing. With security screwed cabinets and no external moving parts, these bottle fillers are vandal resistant. The sensor operation makes them extremely easy to use, and they can be easily positioned to allow for wheelchair accessibility. As with all equipment supplied by MIW, these bottle fillers are also WRAS (Water Regulations Advisory Scheme) approved, guaranteeing compliance with all water authority and UK Government health and safety guidelines.

Once the water dispensers had been agreed upon, MIW liaised with Cadw and each of the 10 sites to schedule a convenient installation timetable.

The Completed Project

During a 2 month process, MIW Water Cooler Experts installed bottle fillers in 10 locations across Wales for Cadw. The sites included:
 

• Caerphilly Castle
• Conwy Castle
• Harlech Castle
• Laugharne Castle
• Raglan Castle
• Rhuddlan Castle
• St David’s Bishop’s Palace
• Tintern Abbey.

Each installation took place according to budget and schedule, with no unexpected delays or occurrences.

MIW continues to maintain, service and sanitise the Cadw bottle fillers on a regular basis.