18 Apr Boyle’s Fantastic Ice

SO Happy with their Ice

One of the visitors to our booth at the AARFP Trade Show this week was Dave Kip. Dave is one of the operators at the Millview Recreation Centre in Boyle, AB. He couldn’t wait to tell us about the great ice they have there. And he also shared pictures of their REALice ice.

We’ve heard about Boyle’s great ice before — from Billy Creber, Boyle’s Supervisor — but it’s always great to hear it from the front-line workers, and share their enthusiasm!

Gaining Confidence with Something New

Boyle received a grant from the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre and installed the REALice system in 2022. That first season, they were nervous (as many operators are) that it wouldn’t work as advertised. So they ran with tempered water through the REALice. That lukewarm — but not extremely hot water — gave the operations team the confidence they needed to turn their backs on the traditional hot water floods they’d always been doing.

The following season, they stopped adding hot water, using only tap-temperature cold floodwater treated through the REALice. They typically run their brine supply temperature at 25-26°F. The energy savings are great, the compressor run-time is way down compared to what it was with hot water floods — and they have consistently great ice all season long.

If you’d like to have great ice that costs a whole lot less — you can take advantage of generous funding from the MCCAC IF YOU APPLY before the end of the month.