In the corner of the 1960's building, sat the two 11kV transformers that took the incoming supply and connected it to the large electrical pumps used to lift water from the wells via the filtration plant and on to the reservoirs. It was decided that they posed a safety risk (only being switched off in the on-site sub-station), took up quite a lot of space and were of no significant historic importance.
Western Power were contacted and they were more than happy to come and disconnect the sub-station from their supply cables and a company was found who although they would not pay us for the transformer oil (too small a quantity at 1600 litres), they would after tests were carried out on the oil, take it away for us. So after confirming that the oil did not contain dangerous PCBs, two large plastic vessels were delivered and the team quickly got on with the draining process.
The transformers were then moved along side the stage to give us better access for the stripping out process, separating the copper windings from the steel cores and casings.
Busy working (Video link). Playing with a Slinky (Video link)
After a big clean up effort because the oil found its way around the place, we were ready to clear out the stone chipping that were originally placed inside the transformer bunds to help contain any possible oil spills. We were able to reuse most of the chipping for the base of the bike shed although some had to be skipped as they were contaminated with pitch from one of the old cable joints.
The next stage of the process was to remove the concrete bund along with its reinforcing so that the flattened floor could be brought up to the right level for tiling.
As you can see, it was a team effort with some discussions and lots of noise.
That 'just' left getting rid of the rubble, a delivery of concrete to put down and the tiles to lay!
We now have another useable area, marked out to show where the transformers were. We hope that this will add to the usability of the building as a community venue. One possible plan is to have café / kitchen in this area.