Posted By John_72 Just a query regarding the recommended temperature of hot water from taps. My understanding is that the ideal temperature should be approximately 60 degrees to effectively kill any legionella bacteria. However our issue is that as we provide services to young children and the elderly were there is a higher risk of scalding from hot taps. Bearing in mind that taps (in most cases) are used frequently so there is little time for stagnation and that any aerosilization is small than compared to showers and air con units and that the breathe zone of the invidual is not close (with the possible exception of children using adult sized basins and sinks) i am of a mind that a risk assessment would show that the likelihood of legionella exposure from taps would be low and that a reduction in temperature at the thermostat would be acceptable as the likelihood of scalding is higher. i also believe that no known outbreak of legionella has ever been attributed to taps, is this the case? Can anyone enlighten me further please as this is one of those issues that i would like to be able to offer some degree of clarity on to our managers.

Posted By holmezy John, Liklehood of taps producing a spray which could then be inhaled into lungs is, as you say, low, however your suggestion to lower the thermostat temp is not the way forward. Stored water, ie in the calorifier (hot water cylinder) needs to be raised to the temperature of approx 63 degrees to kill of any bugs, legionella and others, which have entered via the mains water supply. If you lower this to 40 degrees you are providing the bugs with the top end of their comfort zone for proliferation so run the risk of not sterilizing the water which would raise the risk of bugs getting to water outlets, and then further multiplying. Keep the thermostat at 63 degrees and fit thermstatic mixer valves under your sinks to limit the temperature of the water at the taps to 35 to 45 degrees, which is most suitable or recommended for your operation. Need to keep checking for legionella though. There was a recent similar thread so search and you will find more info. time to go, the beer is calling Holmezy

Posted By Paul A. Swift I thought that the hot water temperature needed to be a minimum of 50 Deg. Celcius. Would not lowering the Hot water temperature to just over 50 degrees resolve all of the issues?

Posted By stevehaigh SORRY I MEANT Holmezy

Posted By Granville Jenkins Hi John If you take on board the comments made by J Knight and Holmezy you won't go wrong! I have recently introduced (well last year to be precise) TMV3 fail-safe valves and used automatic taps which work of a built in infra-red sensor to a suite of toilets and together they do an excellent job, not that I am suggesting that you need to go down the infra-red route - but I can thoroughly recommend it as a solution to those with a budget to accommodate! Regards Granville