WATER MANAGEMENT ROUND-UP ‘Intelligent urinal’ for busy washrooms
Urinal usage in public washrooms is often characterised by periods of intense activity – for instance during concert and theatre intervals, followed by no activity when the building is not in use. The challenge, says Delabie, is thus to ensure that the user experience is not compromised, and that hygiene standards are maintained. The company has accordingly developed an ‘intelligent urinal valve’ able to detect high- frequency periods and adapt its rinse accordingly. During peak periods, only the urinal bowl is rinsed between two users, but at the end of the ‘busy period’, an additional rinse occurs to clean the
take place every 12 or 24 hours after the last use to flush the pipework and prevent the crystallisation of uric acid, water stagnation, and backflow due to system vacuums.
bowl completely and renew the water in the trap. The Tempomatic 4 urinal valve offers three programmes according to urinal type, each with an optional hygienic duty flush, programmable to
Training in ways to combat Legionella potential for not-to-
PPL Training says its water hygiene training courses are ‘specifically designed for HTM compliance (HTM 04-01), to enable staff responsible for implementing water system safety processes
and procedures to ensure an effective scheme of control to help mitigate the risk of exposure to Legionella bacteria’. The company said: “Legionella can be present in most environments where there are both natural and man- made water systems. Given the nature of the healthcare environment, the bacteria could be prolific in hot and cold water services due to the size of the plumbing infrastructure, and the
standard modifications/ alterations undertaken over many years. “Our water hygiene training courses are all City & Guilds-accredited, and cover Legionella
Management, Control, Awareness, Hydrotherapy Pool Operation and Management, Introduction to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Servicing and Testing of Thermostatic Mixing Valves, and Training for Hospital Maintenance Staff. We deliver training from our centres in York and Slough, have access to training locations in Scotland, and can also train at customer sites.”
Rapid identification of P. aeruginosa
Pseudalert, winner of the IHEEM ‘Product Innovation in Healthcare Award’ in 2014, is a ‘rapid, easy-to-use’ test for the detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in hospital water systems which delivers ‘definitive results’ in 24 hours, with no additional confirmation steps. IDEXX launched Pseudalert into the UK healthcare sector following extensive independent testing to ensure compliance. The test gives either a presence/absence, or quantified result, within 24 hours, ‘less than half the time’ of traditional agar-based methods.
Pseudalert is also a specified method in the SCA Blue Book, The Microbiology of Drinking Water (MODW) part 8, as required by HTM 04-01: Safe Water in Healthcare Premises.
Sample preparation requires under one minute of ‘hands-on time’, with the presence of P. aeruginosa determined by subsequent fluorescence of the sample following incubation.
IDEXX said: “Testing with Pseudalert can be easily carried out on site with minimal capital expenditure, ensuring fast results for the confidence that the actions that have been undertaken are both effective and timely.”
The IDEXX portfolio also includes rapid tests for the detection of E. coli, coliforms, and enterococci, while the newest product, Legiolert, is a new culture testing method for confirmed detection of Legionella pneumophila.
66 Health Estate Journal August 2018
Delabie explained: “The Tempomatic 4 urinal’s direct flush mechanism harnesses the system’s dynamic pressure to provide a powerful rinse. The flush is instantly available, with no cistern refill time or opportunity for water stagnation or scale build-up. A low-profile wall plate, available in a range of finishes, conceals the working parts, although maintenance staff can easily access the mechanism for servicing.”
Compliance issues ‘a thing of the past’
The ‘logistical problems’ of ensuring low-use water outlets are flushed, and maintaining the ‘associated mountain of records’, are ‘a thing of the past’ at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, says Digital Missives, which has run a ‘highly successful’ three-month trial of its L8guard ‘software tool’ for the Trust. The Trust’s Infection Prevention and Control team report that, ‘after five years of trying to improve on compliance with flushing’, L8guard has, ‘in just a few months, shown a massive improvement’. Digital Missives explained: “It offers assurance to the Trust’s management board and others that there is a robust water management system in place. Compliance audits can be produced at the click of a button. Reports are put forward to the Water Safety Group, which in turn reports to the Trust’s Infection Prevention and Control Committee. The reports are also used as compliance evidence for CQC visits.”
L8guard automatically generates and sends out performance reports and graphs identifying ‘areas of success and concern’, and highlighting ‘repeat offenders’ – enabling any localised problems to be addressed quickly and easily.
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