In the battle against moisture and mould, it is important to pay heed to the shelf life of equipment. “The end-user must bear in mind that all equipment have a shelf life for a limited number of years, and after that period expires, the equipment must be replaced, otherwise the problem will always be prevalent, and the manufacturer is blamed for selling faulty equipment,” said Savio Menezes, Senior Engineer at T.K. Sitea.

Generally speaking, Menezes and others in the HVAC industry are of the view that the battle to combat moisture and mould is a recurring process in the GCC region and needs specialised expertise.

Menezes calls for a thorough approach to tackling mould in ducting systems. “Cleaning the filters is not enough,” he said. “If the coils of the equipment are also cleaned thoroughly and the filters replaced periodically, the ducts will remain intact. The other factor is maintaining a standard temperature, because a swing in the temperature causes the problem.

Sasindran Vayaveettil, Maintenance Manager at EMCC, added: “One of the main problems with mould and moisture in HVAC equipment is high humidity conditions in the region. The other problem is when the piping or ducts of the HVAC equipment have small holes, allowing unfiltered air to be sucked into the system.”

Vayaveettil said the only way to tackle the problem is by deploying specialised expertise. Elaborating on the work involved, he said: “We clean the ducts for these harmful substances and use a special anti-fungal paint to prevent it from recurring. If the humidity in the room is high, then it is advisable to install a de-humidifier, besides ensuring that all windows are sealed properly and the temperature is set between 22 and 24 degrees C.”

Vayaveettil added that for deep cleaning, his company uses robots equipped with spray solutions and brushes. “These robots,” he said, “enter the duct and vacuum out the mould and moisture.”