Kingspan Envireau Rainwater Harvesting - I'm Not the Only One

Today I had an e-mail from a fellow victim of the Kingspan Envireau Rainwater Harvesting 'System'.
He is from Dublin and had been having trouble with his system for the past six years - identical to ours as it turns out.   He, like us, was suffering expensive failures and Kingspan Envireau's customer service had failed him as badly as the system itself.

He e-mailed:
I found your blog on the Kingspan- envireau  water harvesting system in the middle of January 2019. It is the most perfect articulation of the problem(s) that we have endured in the last 6 years.  It has been so frustrating.   I made a reach out comment in the blog but was unsure if you would get it. I then invested 2 hours and googled your name and have guessed your email as a result of finding Pats email.   BTW your house project looks so amazing. Congratulations on a great project.

Re waterharvetsing & Kingspan.
We appear to have the same issue for me with distance of the monitor to the sensor. I have only copped this from reading your blog.  Kingspan were  all over me during the sale process & disappeared over the hills from the moment stuff was installed. 

We have been in e-mail dialogue during the day and are hopeful of getting an outcome - no thanks whatsoever to Kingspan Envireau. 

So there are at least two of us victims of Kingspan's poor design and/or installation who have been totally let down by Kingspan.   Googling their reviews it seems we are not alone.   Not by a long way we're not.

This begs the question - What are Kingspan doing about
a) a flawed design
b) abandonment of customers when the inevitable problems arise

Given the shared experience I feel inclined to present our cases to Which? and to BBC Watchdog to see if they will take it up with Kingspan.   Kingspan must be aware they have a problem - they only have to set up a permanent search for 'Kingspan Envireau' online and this humble Blog entry will pop up on their screens.   Surely they do this elementary thing?

So, Gene M. Murtagh CEO of Kingspan, what are you doing about this?

Before it all Started

I had occasion today to consult Google's Street-View of The Sidings.   Just for fun I 'drove' right along to the end of The Sidings to see our water tower:

Interesting and perhaps ten years ago.   The embankment on the right is tree covered and the rear of the tower is in woodland also.   Verdant of course but that is all.   The Stationside Apartment block is now where the trees were.    The tank is rusty and forlorn and a hostile sheet metal gate discourages access to the tower.

One of the factors for refusal of our recent planning application was that our rearward extension would spoil the view of the tower from The Sidings!   Hmmmmm.

Anyway, that is history and we have resubmitted our application with a much reduced scheme that is less prominent in this 'iconic' view of the water tower.   I rather wish I had come across this picture earlier.

Ian Dewhirst R.I.P.

Most Blog readers will be unaware of Dr Ian Dewhirst MBE whose death has been announced today.   Ian was a Yorkshire icon,   Former Keighley reference librarian, scholar, author and public speaker Ian was the most modest man imaginable.   Shy and self effacing he came alive in front of an audience.   Not in any pompous sort of way.   Just 100% engaging, warm and fascinating.   Local history was his thing but around that he was one of those people whose insights on life and the human condition in general meant he could capture any gathering and hold them spellbound.

He was accorded the ultimate in local recognition by having a Northern train named in his honour:

Here it is at York:

I shall always remember getting on a southbound 'Ian Dewhirst' propelled train at Carlisle.   Unremarkable in itself as the 'Ian Dewhirst' train is a familiar sight on the S&C.   But there on the train was the eponymous Ian sitting quietly on his own en-route back to Keighley after a speaking engagement.   I sat with him of course and we chatted all the way to Settle.   Naturally I asked him if he was aware he was travelling on 'his' train.   He did not know but was delighted to learn of the coincidence.   "I never look to see" he said in his typically modest way.

Ian and I have known each other for years.  Decades indeed.   Christmas would not be Christmas without a newsy card from Ian.   I have his last right here.   He had heard of my own near miss on the Keighley grapevine and sympathised.   He says he is suffering from arthritic knees - a problem when standing up giving talks 'which isn't doing me any good physically.'    

"But we have to keep doing what we can for as long as we can!"

 I shall remember that.

Thank you Ian for your friendship.  

It's Snowing at Last

The winter so far has been unseasonably mild, in contrast to mainland Europe where there has been fearsomely deep snowfall in parts.   Buds are appearing on our daffodils and colder weather is forecast.   We awoke to a covering of snow today but then the skies cleared until lunchtime when it really started.   I first noticed it on our bedroom TV monitor screen  - the only way we can see out at that level:

click to enlarge

After lunch I settled down to do the crossword in my favourite armchair in the lounge and it was starting to snow again with those really big fluffy snowflakes:

 Quite soon the station drive was well covered:

The dog, no fool, abandoned her sheepskin rug in the unheated window alcove for the underfloor 

heated adjacent floorboards:

I took inspiration and fell asleep too.

Curly Kale

This is a Blog about a water tower but I often stray from that rather straight and narrow.   Not sure how but this family has discovered curly kale - a vegetable of which I have been aware but never felt the inclination.   Well, yesterday I embraced the green and curlies and tucked in to my very first curly kale accompanied meal:

I can report that curly kale hits the spot.   I am indebted in part to grandson James who apparently loves the stuff.   Give it a go.

Pyracantha

The garden is looking unseasonably colourful just now, not least this pyracantha against the rear wall

Article in RAIL Magazine

Out today is issue 870 of the UK's foremost railway magazine RAIL and it carries what turns out to be my eight page feature on the Ribblehead viaduct.   Chuffed to bits with the billing on the contents page which describes it as being among 'the best of today's railway writing'.   I reproduce that below, coming to terms with my normally modest demeanour:

And here are my eight pages for followers too mean to go out to buy a copy or who live in Russia:

Full marks to whoever does the design and layout I reckon.

Sixer Ben

I was once a Cub.   Not a particularly good Cub as I recall but I did learn how to tie knots and that has served me very well indeed from time to time.  Pleased to report therefore that #2 grandson Ben is also a Cub.   Not just that, he has just become a Sixer:

Very smart he looks too.   His mother thinks it would be a good idea if he worked on getting his badge-sewing-on badge.

For balance, here's Ben in characteristic TV viewing pose at Christmas:

and on recent visit to Greenwich, I think:

Russia Again - VERY curious

I am a sad person who from time to time checks on the traffic sources to this Blog.   You can search by the year, month, day, all-time and 'now'.   Just for fun? THIS WEEK, and it's only Wednesday, the page views for this piddling and inconsequential little Settle Station Water Tower Blog are:

Russia

147

United States

105

United Kingdom

88

France

39

Vietnam

29

Germany

22

Indonesia

14

Ukraine

14

Unknown Region

13

Thailand

8

Delighted to be of such worldwide interest but frankly, bound to wonder WTF's going onski?