The Science Of Drying

Drying needs energy.

Water, as it evaporates, absorbs heat, cooling the material it evaporates from.

Two important points to remember are that evaporation inevitably cools the material that loses the water and that the rate of evaporation reduces as the temperature falls. In a laboratory it is
possible to evaporate water so quickly from a brick that the water still contained in it freezes and evaporation comes to a virtual halt until the brick warms up again. It is not uncommon on walking
into a recently finished new building to find that it is noticeably cooler than the air outside. This is the result of the materials drying out.

The heat energy taken to evaporate five litres of water is at least 3.6kW for one hour.

Richfords are equipped with new super heating dehumidifiers which can rapidly dry out buildings by replacing the heat loss through evaporation.

What we need to consider when setting up a
drying program.

• Can the building be sealed?
• Is the building's heating and/or air
conditioning system available?
• What is the condition of the property's electrical system?
• What types of material are being dried?
• How long were the materials under water?
• What was the depth of water saturation?
• What type of equipment can be used in this property for
the drying process?
• What are the outside weather conditions?
• What is the attitude and level of cooperation of the insured
and building occupants?
• What is the responsiveness of the insurance representative
and/or property manager?
• What is the overall condition of the fabric of the property?
• Is the property at risk of re-flooding?
• Is there any trapped interstitial moisture -moisture trapped
in insulated floors and walls etc?

When is a building dry?

The British Damage Management Association defines
this as when:
1. The internal conditions of the property are at, or
better than normal room conditions.
2. The moisture on and in the building materials
themselves will not support active growth of mould and
mildew as a result of the incident of water damage that
has most recently occurred.
3. The building materials and contents will return to
equilibrium with normal room conditions by
themselves, without further damage.
It is important to us that we give our customers a
definite outcome from our drying process. For this
reason we issue a Completion of Drying certificate for
each drying project.
This certificate identifies the outcome of drying and
indicates pre-existing conditions that we have noted. It
helps ensure that there are no misunderstandings about
the outcome of drying.