INTRODUCTION TO BOLLFILTER
May 2010

I have been passionate about the water for as long as I can remember, and it was messing about on rafts on the river as a young boy that started my long professional connection with the water industry. Over the years, I have continued to spend much of my leisure time on the water, crewing an ocean-going yacht and taking part in international racing competitions.

It was while spending weekends sailing off the Essex Coast as a teenager, that I met local businessman Roy Hammond. Roy had started Geedon Marine in Colchester in the mid 1960s, acting as an agent for various marine products, including incinerators, shipboard cranes and Boll & Kirch filters, and selling a range of boat treatments, such as anti-fouling and teak oils. I joined the company in the late 1970s to set-up and manage a warehouse for the filter spare parts and, over the next 20 years, worked my way up to board director. In this time I have been involved in many aspects of the filtration industry.

During the 1980 & 90s with the decline in the marine industries, Geedon Marine had begun to expand into industrial filters and, in 2000, Bollfilter UK was established specifically to promote Boll & Kirch filters to the UK marine and industrial markets.

A Global Business for more than 50 years

Boll & Kirch was started in Cologne in 1950 by Walter Boll and Josef Kirch with just 25 employees in an atmosphere of post-war austerity. The objective: to develop innovative and effective filtration systems for marine and industrial applications.

During the 1950s, the Company developed two, external medium assisted techniques for automatic filtration. One for the marine industry, to protect rotating machinery like diesel engines from the wear and failure caused by particulate damage. And a reverse flow technique used for less viscous, aqueous liquids, suitable for literally hundreds of different industrial applications.

The first fully automatic industrial filters were designed and manufactured by Boll & Kirch in the mid 1950's primarily for cooling water filtration in the petrochemical & steel industries.

In 2010, with a shareholder capital of 50 million euros and over 500 employees, Boll & Kirch is one of the leading manufacturers of automatic filtration systems worldwide - with over 100,000 square metres of state-of-the-art production, fabrication and assembly facilities.

The Company designs & manufactures a wide range of automatic and manual filters and is committed to a programme of continual product development & improvement. It has recently upgraded its facilities as part of a major investment programme, including a new purpose-built unit for the manufacture of filter elements, new sheet metal handling, cutting and welding hall, new workshop training centre for apprentices, fully automated and computer-controlled spares department and robotic painting plant. For more information visit www.bollfilter.de

A UK Business dedicated to sales and service

Bollfilter UK is the dedicated technical sales arm of Boll & Kirch promoting the Boll & Kirch range of automatic and manual filters to UK-based customers and providing them with comprehensive sales and service support.

As the MD of Bollfilter UK, I head up a team of dedicated professionals. Robert Eden, Sales Manager, who has over 20 years' experience in industrial filtration, is responsible for capital equipment sales - including organising on-site consultation and specification across a range of applications. Janine Harris manages our Spares Department, ensuring a fast, efficient response to customers in the marine and industrial sectors worldwide. And our Field Service Engineers provide commissioning, training, repair and comprehensive maintenance support, including contract servicing.

Find out more about Filtration

Over the next twelve months, I will be providing visitors to the online magazine Process and Control Today www.PandCT.com site with information about some of the principles of filtration and the types of filters designed for the process industries. I will also be exploring the use of filtration in a number of very different applications - from food processing to steel making to snow making.

John Dow can be contacted at:

Bollfilter UK Ltd
Unit 9, Station Road
Tolleshunt D'arcy
Essex CM9 8TY
Tel: 01621 862180
Fax: 01621 869257
E-mail: john@bollfilter.co.uk
web: www.bollfilter.co.uk