Between bookings and vacancies: why drinking water hygiene is also a part of holiday home rentals

Tidy rooms, clean bathrooms and nice fixtures and fittings are all part of a good experience for guests in a holiday home. Yet although it can’t be seen, drinking water hygiene is also critical here and an especial challenge for landlords renting out holiday homes. These homes often see only occasional use: sometimes the apartment is occupied, sometimes it’s empty for days or weeks on end. During this time, water can start to stagnate in piping, fittings or shower hoses, which affects drinking water quality. Electronic fittings can offer support here, as they can trigger stagnation flushes automatically. This ensures a regular exchange of water, even if no guests are currently in residence.

Holiday homes require particular attention

Stagnation starts sooner than you’d think

Benefits of automated flushing

Solutions from SCHELL

Good hosts keep drinking water hygiene in mind

‘No guests’ doesn’t mean ‘no work’: why holiday homes require particular attention

Often, two bookings are separated by only a few hours. But this gap can easily become several days or even weeks. In the off-season, many holiday homes remain vacant for longer, of course. These repeated periods of vacancy, significantly elevate the risk of stagnating water in the piping. Accordingly, the owners, landlords and operators/managers of holiday homes should therefore take especial care to ensure a regular exchange of water even when homes are currently vacant.

Stagnation starts sooner than you’d think

The basic precondition for maintaining drinking water quality is the regular and full exchange of water across all tapping points in the drinking water installation. As per the VDI 6023 Part 1 guideline, this should occur at least once every 72 hours. Otherwise, there is a risk that Legionella will start to proliferate. The bacterium enters the human body as tiny aerosolised droplets via the airways and can trigger serious infections such as Legionnaires’ disease. As such, this topic is also relevant for holiday homes, even if vacancies last only a few days.

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Critical tapping points at a glance

Bathroom

The wash basin is often the first tapping point used on arrival. Drinking water quality is therefore especially important here.
Guest WCs and second bathrooms may also be provided but are used only occasionally. These rooms therefore have an increased risk of drinking water stagnation at tapping points.

Kitchen and utility connections

Water is used for both drinking and cooking in the kitchen. Good drinking water quality therefore plays a particularly important role here.
In some properties, outdoor or utility connections may also be places where water remains unused in the piping for longer.

Why manual flushing is often not enough

Manual flushing is obviously always an option. As a landlord, however, it’s often difficult to organise reliably, as responsibilities often shift about between the cleaning team, janitor service and the owner. Electronic taps can help out here. These fittings enable an exchange of water with the aid of automated stagnation flushes at predefined intervals. Ideally, this interval is adjustable to ‘72 hours after last use’, which ensures that flushes are kept to the minimum needed for hygiene. SCHELL offers a wide range of contactless taps for wash basins and kitchens. These fittings are also suitable for use in holiday homes, where they not only help to support good hygiene but also significantly improve user comfort.

Well prepared between two bookings: benefits of automated flushing

Less manual effort

Automated flushing relives the load on landlords and operators
by reducing the effort involved in manual flushing cycles between two bookings.
This is especially useful if holiday homes are not continuously occupied.
Water exchanges also become easier to plan for multiple units or if several cleaning teams are used.
Operators do not need to visit sites just to ensure that rarely used tapping points receive a manual flush.

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Improved process logging

Some fitting solutions permit the individual adjustment and logging of flushes.
This is especially useful for holiday homes with an external cleaning/janitor service or property management firm.
Hygiene routines are clearly organised and no longer dependent on specific individuals.
Operators can also provide clear proof that water exchanges have also been properly handled even during vacancies.

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SCHELL solutions: automated, targeted water exchanges at the tapping point

Electronic taps

Landlords and operators of holiday homes should ensure the targeted use of modern technology to ensure the hygienic operation of the drinking water installation. Electronic taps from SCHELL are an especially effective solution here: they enable automatic hygiene flushes and ensure the regular exchange of water, even in cases where a holiday home is not currently being rented. This approach significantly reduces the risk of stagnation, especially at tapping points whose use is only occasional or irregular.

These kinds of taps are especially practical in strategically important places like second bathrooms or in the kitchen, as these tapping points are often at the start or end of the apartment installation. If these are used regularly or included in automated flushing, the entire apartment supply and part of the main piping will be flushed clear. This helps to protect health while causing only a modest rise in water consumption.

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With its integrated stagnation flush, SCHELL’s GRANDIS E electronic kitchen tap automatically ensures the regular exchange of water, even if the tap remains unused for a while. The tap also improves day-to-day user comfort: thanks to its integrated infrared sensor, the Grandis E does not need to be touched with dirty hands. After being triggered by the sensor, the water flows at the previously set temperature for as long as is required and while the hands are being held in front of the sensor.

Electronic taps from SCHELL are therefore a small investment with a big effect: for holiday home landlords and operators, this translates into less manual effort and greater peace of mind in day-to-day operations. At the same time, modern equipment adds to the overall impression of any holiday home. High-quality, contactless electronic taps give guests a feeling of premium comfort and underline the home’s high standards. These are the kinds of details that encourage bookings for a particular holiday home while helping it to achieve better rankings.

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The MODUS E wash basin tap helps to maintaindrinking water quality in holiday homes by carrying out regular stagnation flushes. When this setting is activated, MODUS E will initiate a stagnation flush24 hours after its last use. This means that the regular exchange of water at the tap does not need to be performed by hand but can be completed automatically, saving valuable time.

The E² digital fittings generation combines modern technology with easy operation. Stagnation flushes can be configured quickly and easily with the SCHELL app.

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Alongside a series of dates or intervals, the ‘smart, demand-based flushing’ function offers an especially efficient solution that recalculates flush times every day, based on actual usage data received from the fitting.

Three preconfigured operating modes make it especially easy to set parameters on E² fittings:

‘Save water’ mode, ‘Save electricity’ mode and ‘Comfort’ mode.
Adjustments to settings can be customised even further in expert mode.

In larger properties with several holiday apartments, the recommendation is to network electronic SCHELL fittings using the SWS/SMART.SWS Water Management System. SWS offers building operators and facility managers many benefits for the efficient and cost-effective operation of drinking water installations.

Good hosts keep drinking water hygiene in mind

Drinking water hygiene is part and parcel of a professional run holiday home, particularly since vacant periods are always a possibility. Automated stagnation flushes support the regular exchange of water while improving the integration of hygienic requirements into day-to-day property rental activities. SCHELL makes it easier for landlords, operators/facility managers and owners to incorporate processes for maintaining drinking water quality into property operations. As a result, an often-overlooked duty becomes a benefit for operations, user comfort and guest safety.