A PADIHAM firm has landed a deal to transport samples at set temperatures.

Refrigerated vehicle specialist CoolKit Ltd, has won a tender to convert a fleet of vehicles for Welsh Water.

The firm, which is based at Shuttleworth Mead in Blackburn Road, helps companies conform to the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2010.

Eleven vans used for the transportation of water samples will be converted into temperature-controlled vehicles for the water company.

The new laws demand that in taking, handling, transporting, storing and analysing water, any sample taken must be kept at a temperature and in conditions that will ensure the sample remains representative of the quality of the water at the time of sampling.

CoolKit Sales executive Mark Beaton said: “In winning the tender, CoolKit demonstrated a deep understanding of the regulations, having converted vans for other water companies over the years.

“The conversions have a partition, so that there is no common air between the compartments, to ensure that samples cannot be contaminated.

“The vehicles are also fitted with a refrigeration unit with dual evaporators and a heating facility as well as cooling so the samples can be kept at a constant temperature.

“A keyless running system that allows the vehicle to idle without keys in the ignition for vehicle safety was installed to ensure that, when sampling at reservoirs, the refrigeration unit will keep running so samples are not affected when there is no electric standby power available.”

The firm, which opened in 2005 in Padiham, has doubled the size of its facilities this year and now employs 40 people in June it announced it was almost doubling its manufacturing capacity.

The company offers a broad range of services from conversions to sales and from van hire to transport.

In exciting times for the owners, in May, it invested in new machining technology, with a Computer Numerical Control, a worktable that incorporates a five-axis head to produce plastics, resins and light alloys.