Vielfältige Nutzung – eine Lösung: Trinkwassergüte in gemischt genutzten Immobilien erhalten mit SCHELL

Many types of use – one solution: maintaining drinking water quality in mixed-use properties with SCHELL


Mixed-use properties present particular challenges when it comes to the maintenance of drinking water hygiene. This is because a variety of user groups – including retailers, offices and doctors’ practices – all share the same drinking water installation. This also means that they share responsibility for maintaining drinking water quality in the building. This wide range of usage types therefore requires some specific approaches to ensure the long-term quality of the drinking water. Electronic fittings, the SCHELL Bluetooth® modules and the SWS Water Management System from SCHELL provide an effective and long-lasting strategy for overcoming these challenges.

Key challenges involved in maintaining drinking water quality in mixed-use properties.

How electronic fittings optimise hygiene in mixed-use properties.

A simple way to improve hygiene: the SSC Bluetooth® module.

Requirements for drinking water hygiene by user group.

Even simpler and even more efficient: the SWS Water Management System.

All of the benefits at a glance.

Summary

A variety of requirements under one roof

When it comes to maintaining drinking water quality, ‘let the water flow’ is the most important principle. This is because the spread of Legionella and other bacteria relevant for human health is favoured by water stagnating for long periods. Accordingly, VDI 6023 Part 1 stipulates a regular, full exchange of water across all tapping points and at intervals of no more than 72 hours. While this sounds simple in theory, it is not so easy to achieve in practice – especially in mixed-use buildings. These buildings house a variety of retail and residential units, each with their own requirements and usage patterns. All of these factors impact and can potentially endanger both the quality of drinking water and user health.

Electronic fittings: a ‘starter pack’ for optimum drinking water and user hygiene

What is now the standard in many public facilities – and healthcare facilities in particular – also makes sense on other commercial premises, namely the use of electronic fittings. In tea points, for example, a kitchen tap with automated stagnation flush is an excellent choice. Thanks to their contactless operation via infrared sensor, these taps vastly improve user hygiene by minimising the risk of disease transmission via the hands.

In addition, electronic taps from SCHELL also offer the option of triggering stagnation flushes. Once appropriately programmed, these taps perform a stagnation flush every 24 h or 24 h after their last use – a real benefit for drinking water hygiene.

Die hybride Küchenarmatur GRANDIS E lässt sich sowohl berührungslos als auch mit dem Einhebel auslösen

Simple fitting parameterisation with the SSC Bluetooth® module

With the Bluetooth® module and SCHELL SSC Bluetooth® app, parameter settings for electronic fittings can be made wirelessly rather than on the fitting, and from either a smartphone or tablet. The SSC Bluetooth® module can either be used as a mobile programming unit or left permanently installed on a fitting. Permanent installation offers additional functions, such as stagnation flushes using an integrated flushing calendar at/on specified times and days. During the week, up to 32 separate stagnation flushes can be scheduled for any time of the day and with different durations for each stagnation flush. The last 64 flushes are documented by the Bluetooth® module, and can be accessed and exported using the app. If required, the data can also be exported as a CSV file for forwarding as an email attachment.

Requirements for drinking water hygiene by user group

1. High street grocers and similar shops

Businesses that cater to consumers’ day-to-day needs, such as grocers and restaurants, are typically open 6 days a week for more than 10 hours. As a rule, this regular usage of the drinking water installation will automatically ensure an adequate exchange of water. Hand hygiene is especially important here because employees have constant contact with food products.

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2. Offices

In offices, long weekends, public holidays or company holidays can easily result in interruptions in use that last more than 72 hours and therefore cause water to stagnate in the piping. These breaks in use need to be compensated for by organisational or technical measures (VDI 6023 Part 1). This is because inadequate water quality caused by business interruptions can also impact the parts of the installation used by neighbouring tenants in a mixed-use building. Importantly, both used and unused parts of the installation will come into contact at a branching point on a riser. When water flows in the main line, bacteria from the unused branch line are flushed out and can then continue to reproduce at other places in the installation.

3. Healthcare facilities

Requirements for drinking water hygiene are particularly high in doctors’ practices and similar facilities. Alongside testing for Legionella, tests for Pseudomonas aeruginosa may also be mandatory here. As some practice rooms are kept at 24 to 27 °C, a water exchange would not itself be enough to keep temperatures at a safe level and therefore ensure water quality. Active cooling of the drinking water may therefore be advisable here. Even with active cooling, however, a regular exchange of water must still take place. Most modern doctors’ practices have now installed electronic taps, because these types of fitting promote both hand and drinking water hygiene. Even if the electricity and water supply is switched off and shut off outside business hours for insurance reasons, these measures must not affect the electronic taps at the scheduled time for stagnation flushes. Maintaining drinking water quality is critically important in healthcare facilities such as doctors’ practices. By installing electronic taps and using an intelligent water management system, the regular exchange of water at least every 72 h as required by drinking water legislation can be completed in a way that saves time and water while avoiding the use of extra personnel.

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Efficient and resource-friendly: flushing with a water management system

Unfortunately, you can’t tell how long drinking water has been sitting in the piping merely by looking at it. So, for safety reasons, you could let plenty of drinking water flow out of the tap before using it. But this would generally be a waste of this valuable resource. This balance between maintaining water quality and the need to achieve sustainable usage can be achieved most reliably with electronic taps and a water management system.

The SCHELL SWS Water Management System provides straightforward, user-friendly support for maintaining drinking water quality, offering not only scheduling but also temperature-driven control with sensors. Stagnation flushes are triggered automatically if deviations from the target temperatures (potable water cold (PWC) ≤25 °C, potable water hot (PWH) ≥55 °C) or target times are detected.

SCHELL Wassermanagement-System SWS

An even bigger plus to usability is offered by combining the SCHELL SWS Water Management System with the online SMART.SWS service, which offers global remote access to SWS systems with all of their fittings and sensors, even across multiple properties at the same time.

All water management system benefits at a glance

Both the operators and tenants of mixed-use buildings enjoy the following benefits from the combination of SWS and SMART.SWS:

SWS Water Management System:

  • Optimum support for maintaining drinking water quality
  • Maximised cost-effectiveness by reducing personnel workloads
  • System can be expanded later by adding more electronic taps and fittings
  • In special situations such as on hot summer days, all fittings can be switched over centrally to a more frequent exchange of water – and then back again afterwards
  • Simple installation and commissioning
  • Can be used in new buildings as well as existing properties
  • Very user-friendly
  • Benefits for operators: Logging of all water exchanges

SMART.SWS:

  • all networked buildings worldwide at a glance
  • Simple remote monitoring
  • Mobile facility management
  • User-friendly visualisation of all data and additional data logging

Summary

To maintain drinking water at a high quality, tenants must perform regular exchanges of water. By installing electronic fittings and a water management system such as SWS, this is easy to achieve by programming the appropriate automatic flushes. This creates the perfect balance between maintaining water quality with regular water exchanges and a commendable interest in conserving the valuable resource of water as far as is possible. Without the help of electronic components, this is significantly more time-consuming and error-prone. Electronic solutions make the process more straightforward and more cost-effective.

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