DRAINAGE SYSTEMS
Importance of an accurate drainage plan
An accurate drainage plan should be the starting point for a healthcare facility’s drainage maintenance strategy, and can help you tackle many different issues. By mapping all the systems present, you can identify flows and system capacities, and assess the condition of the drainage system. Surveying is carried out using a range of tools, including CCTV push cable pipe inspection systems which provide HDR-quality video footage of the inside of pipes. RIDGID’s TruSense Cameras (available from Emerson) also provide the user with the pitch of the camera’s angle in-pipe. Lines can be mapped by tracing the entire push rod of the camera system, and blockages can then be found by using locating technologies such as sonde locating. All this scheduled preventative maintenance work will at best eliminate any upcoming defects or potential problem areas, or, at least, increase the speed of resolution.
A build-up of sanitation gels, detergents, and other residues within pipework, is a common problem in residential housing, and it is not unusual to find the same problem in hospitals and care homes. The build-up of residues can decrease the inner diameter of downpipes considerably. Pipes must then be cleaned or descaled using a mechanical drain cleaning device. Of course the choice of the machine highly depends on the type of blockage and the pipe’s diameter, and whether it is possible or not to use high-pressure water flow.
Durable, multi-purpose machines RIDGID’s FlexShaft drain cleaning machines are durable, portable, multi- purpose machines. They utilise a cordless drill, and do not require a separate water connection. The FlexShaft cleans at high speed, ‘wall-to-wall’, by using an expanding chain knocker, providing an economical, very effective, and fast, clean-out. In addition, this drain-cleaning machine allows simultaneous use of a camera inspection system, which makes the whole cleaning process shorter, and is thus ideal for emergency situations, as it decreases the overall working time. RIDGID, in fact, has extensive knowledge and expertise in developing the right machine for the right application, to ensure a suitable drain cleaning solution for each application.
Of course, avoiding blockages altogether is always the best and most economical solution. What patients, visitors, and healthcare workers do at home, they will most likely also do in hospitals and other healthcare premises – and you cannot blame them if the matter isn’t addressed properly. Thousands of sanitary products and wet wipes are
74 Health Estate Journal July 2021
Emerson stresses that ‘food waste, fats, and oils, don’t belong in sewage systems either’, because they will also cause heavy build-ups in the drains, as is the case with detergents and soaps.
disposed of wrongly down (hospital) toilets every day, despite the presence of sanitary waste bins. Wipes are often marked as ‘flushable’, but should never enter a drainage system, as they don’t dissolve like normal toilet paper.
A good general rule
It is important to only flush toilet paper and human waste, and indeed the same is true with kitchen drains, down which only soiled water should be deposited. Food
waste, fats, and oils, don’t belong in the sewage systems either, because they will also cause those heavy build-ups in your drains, as is the case with detergents and soaps. With the provision of proper education and information to healthcare workers and patients, many hospital drainage problems can be minimised, or even avoided. As a priority, make sure that instructional signage about what not to flush is clear, concise, and visible to all staff, patients, and visitors.
Paul Morrow and Emerson
Paul Morrow is the Country manager for Emerson Professional Tools in the UK & Ireland. With over 25 years’ experience in industrial tooling, he has established a supply network, developed innovative solutions, and created a team of field sales engineers, all with the goal of allowing professional tradesmen to carry out their daily jobs quickly, effectively, and reliably. A Chartered electrical engineer, he has spent over 20 years in sales and marketing in the electrical industry, primarily with the Klauke product line, and now leads an enthusiastic team of Emerson sales engineers across all three brands into the mechanical-electrical- plumbing (MEP) markets. Within the Emerson Commercial and Residential Solutions business platform sit the ‘best- in-class’ brands of Klauke, RIDGID, and Greenlee, which form the Emerson Professional Tools business that serves the electrical, utility, mechanical, plumbing, and construction industries.
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