WASHROOM SYSTEMS
an estates manager, who can then turn off water remotely. Leaks can sometimes go unnoticed for days by busy hospital staff, and over time water build-up can result in huge costs in repairing damaged buildings. As well as the financial implications, this can cause reputational issues for hospitals. In cases where rooms have to be closed because of flooding, hospitals risk not only having to move patients while they’re receiving care, but also damage to expensive equipment, increased waiting times, and even having to close off certain services for a period of time.
Cannon Hygiene says the Actiflow urinal cartridge works in conjunction with a water management system which controls the flush cycle of a cistern and, ‘thanks to its advanced microbiological solution’, helps prevent blockages and keeps malodours at bay.
inefficient, and not particularly effective at maintaining hygiene either. It is no longer true that the more water you flush through a water system, the more hygienic it is. Modern urinals, with microbiological cartridges, keep systems clean even when water isn’t actively flowing through them.
To put this change into perspective, older systems can flush as many as 70 times a day, whereas a microbiological cartridge system can be set to flush only four times a day, with the cartridge keeping pipes hygienic by breaking down uric salts. A ‘smart’ water meter will tell you just how much water has been saved because of the switch too. It helps quantify the return on investment – both in terms of costs and improved sustainability.
Having smart water meters set up in pipes across an estate, hospital property teams can also understand where there may be other savings to be made – by modelling water use, and understanding which areas are using the most water each day. For instance, installing new kitchen taps in canteens, better showers in wards, or more effective HVAC systems, could have a dramatic effect, with smart technology highlighting the returns.
Mitigating risk
Further benefits come from the peace of mind that leaks will be spotted early enough to completely mitigate any risk of damage to buildings. Smart water meters can be set so that if water rises above a predetermined level, the system will text
140 Health Estate Journal October 2019
The effective running of a hospital means that estates managers have to juggle a lot at any one time. Sustainability, and water use in particular, can fall down the list of priorities. Often this is because the resource to complete in-depth reviews isn’t available, but ‘smart’ water meters can change that.
Aware of their obligations The issue of water sustainability is becoming ever more important, and hospitals are increasingly aware of their obligation to support wider UK environmental targets.
For estates managers, tracking facilities using new technology and data isn’t a new approach. For instance, some use technology to track footfall across their facilities, or for monitoring security and recording and logging repairs. Yet, when it comes to water management, there’s an opportunity for growing use of this technology. Adopting the same principles for water management could allow hospitals to uncover how best to make substantial changes to their environmental responsibilities at a time when water shortages are rising up the corporate agenda.
References 1 Collett S, Samarin I, Bhalchandra R et al. Water usage in a multi-speciality hospital and its effective management. J Acad Clin Microbiol 2016; 18: 135-7
Steve Nurdin hej
Steve Nurdin, head of Marketing at Cannon Hygiene, was awarded the Professional Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in 1995, and won a Best Student of the Year award. Thereafter, he studied and gained his Master’s Degree in relationship marketing from the Manchester Metropolitan University in 1997. He has a further Post-Graduate Diploma in Research, and an A Level in Business Studies. He spent 11 years with the Medical Defence Union, where he worked closely with some of the leading UK figures in medicine, law, and dentistry, to support doctors, dentists, and other healthcare professionals around the world, with medico-legal indemnity, risk management, and best practice methods. In this role, he worked closely with leading consultants, GPs, dental practices, and the major private hospital operators.
He went on to spend seven years as Marketing manager at OraSure Technologies, where he worked as part of a specialist team on oral fluid drug testing and laboratory LC/MS/MS analysis. He advised the major UK drug rehabilitation organisations on oral fluid drug testing, and spent considerable time working with addiction services and Class A drug users to help reduce heroin dependency.
The Imagine Auto Cleaner is designed to keep washrooms smelling clean and fresh.
After working as head of Marketing for a marketing and design agency for over three years, Steve Nurdin joined Cannon Hygiene as head of Marketing eight years ago. Cannon Hygiene has over 50 years’ experience in hygiene, ‘innovative washroom services’, specialist waste management, and floorcare, and offers what it says are ‘market- leading products’ to both the NHS and the private healthcare sector.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160