How to enhance the Arena’s flood water: Saving water by conservation or reducing your water heating costs and save money by eliminating the use of heated water on your ice pad. Proven technology currently being used throughout Canada. Have you successfully incorporated some of these measures? Let us know and tell your story so that we can share it here and inspire others to take action!
Eliminate big parts of your water heating costs for your flood water and save 10% – 12% energy from your ice plant by lowering the temperature of the resurfacing water used on your ice pad. According to ASHRAE, 7% of an ice rink’s total energy use is due to domestic hot water that is used in the resurfacing process of the ice. The more impurities in water (both minerals and dissolved gas), the harder the refrigeration plant has to work before it will freezes. Local water sources with higher concentrations of salts of various kinds will have different freezing properties and if the concentration is elevated enough to lower the freezing temperature even further. More energy is required to lower that temperature, and the resulting ice will have poorer quality. To address these issues, most ice rinks heat the water to 140°F – 160°F to remove micro air bubbles before resurfacing the […]
Some arena operators collect rainwater outside their arena. Captured rainwater can be used in landscaping, toilets / urinals, for making and maintaining ice surfaces, and more. Using rainwater for making and resurfacing ice sheets is suitable in high rainfall communities. An NHL-size ice surface requires about 14978.55 gallons (56,700 litres) of water to make a 1.25” (3.12 cm) thick sheet of ice. It takes about 2” (5.08 cm) of water to build an ice sheet from scratch. Benefits: Decreases demand on local water supply Capture area can be added to unused arena space such as on arena roofs. Every 13,000 square foot (1,207.73 metres) section can capture more than 7925.16 gallons (30,000 litres) of rainwater Often less expensive than drilling a well Considerations: Rainfall storage – ensure enough space for rainwater collection and storage time Acceptable locations for downspouts and downspout intercepts Debris management Savings: Municipal water Web resources: Harvesting Rainwater […]
There is a risk of water overflow in an arena’s ice resurfacing room. Traditionally ice resurfacing machines, when left unattended could overflow with hot or cold water, because the water was not shut off when the machine was full. This wasted water and natural gas (if the water is hot). Installing an automatic water filling system will prevent the ice resurfacer from overflowing. Systems are equipped with a remote sensor mounted on the resurfacer, a solenoid valve and a control unit. When the resurfacing tank is full and starts to overflow, the sensor detects it and sends a radio signal which is picked up by the control unit. The control unit then shuts off the hot or cold (see: resurfacing water treatment to use unheated water ) water valve. The system is automated and can be programmed for the size of the ice resurfacer’s tank. The arena operators can attend to other […]
The Scott Seamen Sports Arena, M.D. of Foothills #31 in Alberta, Canada has taken their snow melt pit one step further and installed a system that recycles the ice shavings which are melted within the pit and then treated and stored in an outside retention tank. This water is then put directly back into the Zamboni for the next ice resurfacing. The arena is saving 60% of the water (300,000 gallons out of the previously 500,000 gallons) and $40,000 in hauling fees. This solution could be transferred to all indoor ice arenas for any municipality striving to be more responsible with its potable water resources. Besides using recycled (grey) water for ice resurfacing, it can be used in washroom toilets and urinals and for landscaping and irrigation. Benefits: Cutting potable water consumption by 60% Safeguarding the community’s potable water supply Savings: Water Cost CO2 Web resources: Harvesting Floodwater from the Snow Melt Pit M.D. of […]
REALice® is an easy-install high precision water treatment device for ice arenas to remove micro-air bubbles from water that is used when laying and resurfacing the ice. This high precision de-aeration makes it possible to flood the ice with unheated water to create hard & resilient ice, lower electricity cost by 10% – 12% and reduce the humidity in the arena.
