HEALTHCARE WATER SYSTEMS
Managing water systems via remote monitoring
With the new financial year’s budgets now in full effect, healthcare estates teams have begun planning their refurbishment projects, with many considering how they might more efficiently, sustainably, and compliantly, manage their water systems. One technology rising to meet the challenge is remote digital water monitoring – a ‘smart, data-driven approach’ that automated water monitoring specialist, Angel Guard, says is ‘already reshaping’ how many buildings – including in healthcare, approach water system management. The company’s CEO, Jonathan Waggott, explains.
Digital water monitoring (DWM) refers to the use of connected sensors and software platforms to track various conditions within a water system in real time. These systems measure variables like temperature, flow, biofilm, and stagnation, flagging potential risks long before they develop into costly problems and unsafe situations. They do this in a variety of ways, but all start with the installation of a local device (usually a small black or grey box) with sensors plugged into it. Some of these sensors have to be plumbed into the existing water system, and others can be simply wrapped around the pipework. Most basic devices are capable of measuring hot and cold water temperatures from a single device, with some also able to identify if there has been flow.
Monitoring up to four temperatures and flow events simultaneously The best and most up-to-date systems can now monitor up to four temperatures and flow events at once – including hot and cold water, mixed water (after a remote thermostat), and return hot water. In addition to monitoring temperatures and flow, there is one system on the market – the Angel Guard C-1 – that combines all of these, together with ground-breaking biofilm monitoring technology that can detect the early stages of biofilm growth from pathogens. In all cases the data collected by the sensors is then sent up to a ‘cloud’ system operated by the technology company supplying the devices. This is usually done using in-built wireless technology such as LoRaWAN (low frequency radio), that is excellent at penetrating through the built environment, and transferring the data from the local devices through to a router-type device that sits somewhere central in the building and has a SIM card installed, much like a mobile phone. The results are then displayed on a piece of
software often referred to as a portal. These portals display the results in a variety of different ways, with the most basic ones showing a simple line graph, which requires the person trying to understand the results needing to have a great deal of training and understanding of what they are looking at – as well as considerable time and patience. Other more advanced systems handle a lot of the analysis using clever software that includes unique algorithms, AI technology, and machine learning techniques, to analyse the data collected, and present to the user a more proactive, easier-to-understand risk level for each device installed. This saves users a lot of time, but also provides clear and instant results on the health of every water system you are monitoring. In addition, these more up-to-date systems
are usually the only ones to comply with the latest HSE/Water Management Society guidelines – providing clear alerts while instructing users on what to do and what to look for if and when issues arise. It’s a shift away from
the traditional, manual measurement and hand-written logging that has long been the norm in the water management industry – where engineers physically check outlets on a monthly or weekly schedule, toward a modern, proactive, ‘always-on’ model that is much better suited to the demands of modern estates and the latest guidance issued by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Installation locations – where are DWM systems usually fitted? As the risk of infection from waterborne pathogens such as Legionella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa occurs mostly at point of use, it makes sense that the vast majority of DWM devices can currently be found in those locations. However, in addition to being installed at the point of use, they should ideally also be located at other points within the water system – including, but not limited to, locations close to water heaters, cold storage tanks, and cold-water chillers (if installed), water pipes within risers, and anywhere else within a system that is deemed to be a risk. They can also be specified for cooling tower use, but specifiers considering utilising remote water monitoring systems in such locations need to ensure that both the system and the devices are designed and tested to work on them. Currently most devices on the market are not suitable, due to the fact that they cannot work on re- circulation systems – only static water. Also, they are not designed to work outside, and so cannot withstand the low temperatures of the winter and moisture coming from rain.
September 2025 Health Estate Journal 63
This wrap-around sensor connects directly to pipework.
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