Uponor, provider of hygienic drinking water delivery and plumbing infrastructure, has successfully achieved Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) accreditation for the company’s ‘Hygienic Water Supply Systems’ CPD presentation.
Designed to highlight the importance of hygienic water supply systems and discuss the steps that should be taken to overcome the risk of Legionella, the CPD begins by defining wholesome tap water and highlighting the Legionella risk created by stagnant water in the system and inadequate water temperatures.
The CPD discusses guidance and legislation, drawing attention to industry sources such as HSE, CIBSE, HTM04-01 and EN806 to aid engineers and installers on designing pipework networks to reduce risk, and for building operators and facilities managers on automated smart-flushing systems to ensure stagnant water cannot become a breeding ground for Legionella.
“While building services engineers are aware of issues with legionella, they are often shocked by the level of risk, and surprised to learn that the number of Legionella bacteria doubles every eight hours if there is stagnant water in the pipes within the 25-440C temperature range,” explains Uponor’s Dave Lancaster.
“The purpose of the CPD is to offer design strategies for engineering Legionella risk out of plumbing installations so that, even in healthcare environments covered by HTM04-01 which are considered to have the occupants that fall in the highest risk category, conditions that support Legionella growth can be avoided.”
The CIBSE-approved CPD discusses the pros and cons of Tee, Serial and Loop plumbing network designs, highlighting the benefits of loop configurations in avoiding dead ends and dead legs on the network. It also discusses the importance of the pipe material in avoiding calcification and microfilms to ensure Legionella cannot collect on the internal surface of the pipe.
Following CIBSE approval of the CPD, Uponor is planning a programme of more than 60 CPD events over the next year for building services engineers, architects and installers.
