Comprehensive hygiene concept to maintain drinking water quality
The design, installation and operation of drinking water systems in hospitals are subject to especially stringent requirements regarding hygiene. Drinking water contamination, e.g. by Legionella, can have extremely serious consequences for patients with weakened immune systems. Therefore a comprehensive hygiene concept was drawn up for the new construction of a clinic complex for Celle General Hospital.
An essential part is played by the drinking water installation with Sanpress Inox and Raxofix piping systems from Viega, each tailored to meet the demands. Also from Viega are the flushing stations with Hygiene+ function that ensure that the whole plant functions according to regulations.
Cost-conscious flushing
To maintain the high standards of hygiene, it was vital to take the anticipated operating conditions into consideration. “The greatest risks here come from the possibility of stagnation. To prevent this, Viega flushing stations with Hygiene+ function were installed at specific points of the system,” explains the planning expert.
The areas defined in the new hospital in Celle are so-called ‘consumption units’ consisting of patient rooms that have been grouped together. The Sanpress Inox distribution pipes on each floor branch out into the Raxofix pre-wall piping system, with looped-through units of two to four rooms each. From the plumbing point of view, these floor units function as independent subsystems. They serve to ensure a regular exchange of water, but their advantages go further than that. The flushing stations with Hygiene+ function also ensure that the water exchange takes place in a significantly more cost-effective way than would be the case if the whole floor was treated as one unit.
Data gathered from experience help to lower plant volumes
“Especially in rooms with very ill patients, it is unrealistic to base water demand estimates on the assumption that the washbasin, shower and toilet will be used more or less at the same time, and especially on the assumption that this happens regularly. Instead, after consultation with the hospital management, an empirically determined average value was used for planning purposes,” explains the head planner. Thanks to the resulting lower nominal pipe diameters, the overall drinking water volume was considerably less than would have been the case with conventional installation. Experience shows that the demand to be expected for hot drinking water (PWH) in patient rooms is significantly less than what is specified in technical guidelines.
