Healthcare Reducing risk
Keep hot water running in care facilities For many public sector applications, a failsafe, reliable hot water supply is essential – and nowhere is this more important than in the care sector. Chris Meir provides some tips on how to choose a water heater that will stand the test of time.
WITH ONGOING scrutiny in the healthcare sector following a series of public inquiries into standards of care, even the thought of a hot water system failure is nothing short of a nightmare for officials. And yet, sadly, it is an ongoing threat to hospitals and care homes across the country. A quick scan of the headlines tells us that while in the most part hot water systems are specified to a reliable standard, the issue continues to plague even flagship builds. With the health of vulnerable residents put at risk, the damage to the establishment’s rep- utation can be devastating and in some cases irreparable. With that in mind, it’s essential that a hot water system is designed to be failsafe and reliable – quali- ties which in part are dictated by the water heater that is chosen. When building contingency into a hot water system, specifiers and contractors have two main options – either to install multiple units, or to seek out a product with built-in redundancy. Where there is space for multiple units, single-burner gas-fired storage water heaters can be a good solution, as they offer high rates of recovery. However, where space or funds are limited, a model with multiple burners could be a better option, as each burner can work independently if the others fail.
Loss of hot water provision is
more than an inconvenience when it comes to vulnerable people – it can seriously impact on the quali- ty of care they receive. But there is another side to ill-specified hot water systems which can be life- threatening – namely the risk of Legionnaire’s disease.
Sadly, deaths are still being caused by legionella, including in the healthcare environment, with the fatality at a Bath hospital last year being a case in point. But specifiers and contractors can help to combat the risk in part by their choice of water heater. Some water heaters offer an anti- legionella programme as standard, ensuring that the stored water is regularly heated to a temperature
Chris Meir
at which bacteria cannot survive. At the same time, some tanks are designed to prevent legionella colonisation, as water at the bot- tom of the tank reaches at least the same temperature as the rest of the stored water, avoiding the cultivation of cooler ‘layers’ where legionella would be able to thrive. Features that increase turbulence to reduce thermal stacking are also a huge benefit, without which a de-stratification pump would normally be needed.
In any application, it is essential that the hot water system is sized
22 | May 2016 | Hospitals & healthcare supplement to HVR
correctly. Correct sizing not only means a system will run more effi- ciently, but that it will be better able to cope with hot water demands, meaning that equipment that is more likely to operate as intended and that subsequent maintenance will be kept to a minimum. One of the best ways to help ensure correct sizing of the system is to separate the hot water system from the heating system. Here, best practice is to position water heaters throughout the building and as close to the points of use as possible in order to both
reduce the amount of energy required to pump hot water around the system, and limit heat losses from distribution pipework. When it comes to reliability, it means there is built in contingency for the hot water system, leaving care teams with the option of mov- ing the most vulnerable residents to another area in the building should one part of the system fail. When it comes to identifying those opportunities later down the line, Building Information Management (BIM) Level 2 will play an increasingly important role. As of April this year, it became a requirement for all cen- trally procured public sector proj- ects, and will lay the foundations for more effective, easier manage- ment of the products in-situ, including planning for servicing and maintenance. While BIM Level 2 is only compulsory for public sector tenders, as a way of work- ing it can pay dividends across the private sector too, so it makes sense for contractors and specifiers to choose a brand of water heaters that offers the appropriate files in an easy-to-use format.
It’s also worth checking that a
manufacturer can provide the required level of after sales sup- port. Seek out those that offer war- ranties served by expert engineers, and check that coverage is nation- wide. Likewise, manufacturer training can be a huge advantage for contractors who might not have worked with the brand before. Look for CIBSE-accredited courses which have the added benefit of having been tried and tested by a professional third party. The provision of hot water is vital in hospitals and healthcare facilities alike, and its loss can pose a serious reputational and health risk. Contractors and specifiers can make an important difference to their customers by selecting water heaters that are built to perform when it comes to delivering a fail- safe hot water supply and remov- ing risks to health and safety. • Chris Meir is the sales director at Andrews Water Heaters
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