Gemert (NL)

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After 4 years, here is a brief evaluation of the collaboration and technique at Ice World. In the first 3 years we used the rubber EPDM ice rink, in the last year the new fold-out aluminium ice rink. That was a great improvement in relation to the first three years. I would like to clarify this by listing a few advantages we experienced as an organisation.
1. Quick assembly and dismantling of the rink, for 450 m2 approximately 2 hours including boarding.
2. By creating a watertight tank, approximately 7 cm high in which the ice rink is placed, there is almost no water loss, you immediately have a 7 cm thick layer of ice after freezing and so you do not have to build up the ice rink a couple of centimetres at a time as with the old system.
3. The quality of the ice can be controlled much better because the system reacts much faster to changes to the settings of the ice machine.
4. If the outside temperature rises so much that the top layer melts there is no loss of water as the ice rink is placed in a watertight tank.
5. No coolant leaks.
Naturally it is also appropriate to comment on this new system.
With close boarding you must be careful that the ice layer does not get too thick because then the reaction time, after changes to the machine settings, becomes much slower.
Adding a layer of water every night as with the old rinks results after 1 week in a layer that is 7 cm thicker, so you will have to adjust the freezing temperature on the machine more. This does save some energy.
The conclusion after the 4th year is that we see an increase in the number of skaters each year, and after all, that is what it is all about. We are happy with this progress in the technique from Ice-World and satisfied with the service from this company. As an organisation we are consequently going to meet our fifth year with confidence.
Jan Gerritsen, executive member of the Winterpleinfestijn Foundation