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Flovac’s Role at the Americas Cup. Eco-Sustainable Sanitation in Barcelona

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Barcelona is gearing up for the prestigious America’s Cup, the world’s foremost sailing competition, with Flovac playing a crucial role in ensuring eco-sustainability. Notably, four out of the six team bases in Barcelona will be equipped with Flovac’s advanced pneumatic sewerage network. This innovative system is designed for the efficient and eco-friendly evacuation of sewage and bilge water.

Flovac and the America’s Cup: A Sustainable Alliance

Flovac’s involvement in the America’s Cup, to be hosted next year in Barcelona’s port, highlights the company’s commitment to sustainable sanitation solutions. The cutting-edge pneumatic sewerage network, featuring vacuum valves, is recognized as the most energy-efficient sanitation system available today. It will serve four team bases, underlining Flovac’s dedication to environmental stewardship in major sporting events.

The competition will see five teams from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, the United States, and France vying to claim the iconic Hundred Guineas Cup from the current holders, New Zealand’s Emirates Team. The preliminary regattas, featuring the smaller AC40 boats, have already set the stage for next year’s climactic showdown in Barcelona.

The America’s Cup demands the highest standards, not just in sailing, but in all supporting infrastructure. Accordingly, Flovac has undertaken extensive modifications to its existing facilities at Marina Vela, Marina Barcelona 92, Marina Port Vell, and the Muelle Oriental. These upgrades ensure that the America’s Cup bases, all located in Barcelona’s Port Vell, receive top-tier sanitation services.

Marina Port Vell Barcelona

Flovac’s pneumatic vacuum valve system stands apart for its minimal energy consumption and airtight design, which effectively eliminates odors. Even in the unlikely event of a pipe burst, the system’s vacuum nature prevents spillage by drawing in outside air. This feature guarantees no environmental contamination, aligning with Flovac’s ethos of eco-sustainability and energy conservation.

International Experience

With a track record of successful projects in diverse locations like the Caribbean, the United States, Vietnam, and Australia, Flovac brings a wealth of international experience to the table. “We create bespoke projects tailored to the unique needs of each port,” says Bruno Galindo, Flovac’s Commercial Director. “Our system can be customized or entirely redesigned to meet specific requirements.”

The Flovac system addresses three key challenges with one solution: it efficiently manages wastewater evacuation from buildings, and also handles grey and bilge water from boats. As the America’s Cup teams begin to utilize Flovac’s vacuum systems, the event marks a significant stride in adopting eco-sustainable sanitation technologies in maritime facilities.

Gran Marina del Estrecho, a new marina for megayachts

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A New First Class Marina

At the mouth of the Straits of Gibraltar, Gran Marina del Estrecho is set to become one of Europes leading marinas. It will have  first-class facilities, in the Mediterranean and an exceptional base for superyachts up to 200 meters in length. Its location is in Algeciras, in the south of Spain and will be a reference site in the Strait of Gibraltar.

With an investment of 50 million euros, the construction of the ‘Gran Marina del Estrecho’ is already a reality, and is expected to be operational in 2023. The new marina will have 80 moorings of between 30 and 100 meters in length and 2 moorings for cruise ships, distributed in two different docks. All kinds of services will be provided, from the assignment of moorings to the management of repairs in dry docks.

It will be equipped with an esplanade with unique buildings for nautical and commercial services, with more than 11,100 m2 built. It will have everything necessary for shipowners, captains and crew members to safely enjoy all kinds of luxuries. With 30,000 m2 of commercial space dedicated exclusively to leisure, the hospitality sector will have a major impact. The jewel in the crown will be the Yachting Club building and the shopping area, where, in addition to the best nautical equipment, we will find elite fashion and beauty brands.

‘Gran Marina del Estrecho’ and Flovac

Flovac has designed a vacuum sewerage system that will serve all buildings and  ships in the marina precinct.

Thanks to the vacuum sewer technology that Flovac designs in marinas, a single vacuum station and a network of pipes installed at shallow depths allows the wastewater to be transported from each discharge point of the buildings and from each suction point of the boats to the municipal wastewater network, located outside the concession. Not only does it facilitate the movement and disposal of such water, but it also reduces the cost of transport vehicles.

The megayachts will be able to empty their sewage tanks at their own mooring into the sewage network, without the need for vacuum trucks. They will simply connect to the intakes provided in the turrets.

Bilge and Hydrocarbon Water Management

A second network of pipes will allow the transport of bilge water so as not to mix them. Water with traces of hydrocarbons that may be produced in the vicinity of the gas station will also be transported within this network. A second tank located at the vacuum station will receive these waters that require treatment. In the vacuum station itself, the hydrocarbons are separated before being discharged into the municipal sewer. The process carried out by Flovac will facilitate the municipality’s work and help protect the ecosystem with a safe and clean production chain to avoid all types of impurities in the sea.

The vacuum sewage system will allow the Gran Marina del Estrecho to meet the highest standards of environmental protection. Indeed, thanks to the vacuum, even if there is a crack in the pipe, there will be no discharge of sewage or bilge water and will avoid any pollution. In any case, any air ingress into the system will be detected by the vacuum station and repaired as quickly as possible. The processes established here are becoming the standard for all large marina projects.

For more information about other flovac marina projects read here

Club de Mar Mallorca. The largest Superyacht dock in the Mediterranean

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Flovac’s vacuum sanitation system is going to be included in the remodelling taking place at the marina Club de Mar Mallorca, which will include the fitting out of a new superyacht pier. The pier will be able to accommodate four yachts between 170 and 136 meters and up to 24 beam lengths. Therefore, the marina will commemorate its 50th anniversary with an innovative, reliable and green sanitation solution.

Flovac will supply and install all of the vacuum sewerage equipment. This will be used for both the vessels at berth and for the buildings in the marina as well. Flovac was chosen for this major project due to their detailed experience with major marinas around the world. Flovac valves and equipment is built under European standards and ISO codes.

Vacuum sanitation is preferred for marinas because all pipework can reach the collection pits with shallow trenches and will not leak.  For luxury marinas, Flovac designed a AISI316 stainless steel bollard. Flovac bollards have accessories to connect hoses that suck wastewater from vessels. For the superyachts that have discharge pumps, Flovac will supply connection points with diverse dimensions to adapt to the pier. Bollards with a hose connection under vacuum pressure is for yachts without discharge pumps.

The vacuum system has sensors that notifies the marina manager of the vacuum valve condition as well as the pump and tank status. We also provide software to calculate the flow from the megayachts.

If you would like more information about Flovacs other marina projects please Click here

Gold Coast Marina Vacuum Pump Station Upgrade – A Challenge

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The Gold Coast Marine Precinct is a dedicated industrial zone in Coomera, on the Gold Coast of Queensland Australia. The precinct supports marine manufacturing, servicing, repairs and refits of recreational boats. It is one of the most advanced and respected marine industry cluster developments in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the only purpose built marine precinct in Australia. Covering 250 hectares, it it is home to some of Australias most prestigious motor yacht builders and industry leaders.

It includes Riviera Australia a winner of Australian Maritime Industry Exporter of the year on multiple occasions.

Maritomo  Handcrafted Luxury Offshore Motor Yachts

The Boat Works – a boatyard, marina and superyacht facility

The Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard   has over 90 expert businesses looking after a wide range of clients. They have won numerous awards for their facilities.

 

Related: Barcelona Port vacuum Sewerage System

The Challenge

All of the wastewater within the facility is collected via a vacuum sewerage system. Over the years the facility has grown and the requirements of what a sewerage needs to do has changed. How to handle the larger superyachts for example. How to reduce energy costs. And how to ensure that all equipment was the latest technology and would reduce any risks of sewage entering the waterways.

The hardest part of the challenge was to fit new vacuum pump station equipment into a very tight existing space. The upgrade needed to take place with minimal disruption to any of the businesses in the precinct.

Related: Sydney Superyacht Marina Upgrade

As the Vacuum Pump Station is located outside of the precinct’s grounds it is operated and maintained by Gold Coast Council.

Power Saving and Efficiency

The goal set by Council was to reduce the vacuum pump cycle time from around 6 minutes to less than 3 minutes. This would give a 50{f2ac4d1e1d40dc2e2d9280a1dfa90d854b2d8c80eba743affa37fc4ce2e16def} reduction in power usage throughout the day.

There was also a request to increase the discharged flow from the system by 15{f2ac4d1e1d40dc2e2d9280a1dfa90d854b2d8c80eba743affa37fc4ce2e16def} by using exactly the same specified discharge pumps that were currently installed. We managed to increase their flow from 18 L/S to 21 L/S.

Flovac’s engineers worked on the problem creating 3D modeling of the station to ensure that the equipment would fit the space. Then the operations group went over the plans to make sure that the operability of the system would not be compromised.

In the months after commissioning there has been a clear improvement and lowering of energy costs. Vacuum pump run times have decreased from 17 hours per day and are now running for only 6.7 hours per day. They previously had been running 3 x 500 m3/hr pumps most of the day with huge energy costs.

More information on Flovac’s Marina and Port Projects