Our Client
We discuss how our application of water hygiene technology and expertise help to safeguard students and staff at one of the UK’s home of technological education.
The situation At Brunel University
Brunel University London has been using our water hygiene services since 2013 and continues to do so today.
The university has educational, residential, and social resources and facilities based at a single campus. Accommodating around 4,500 staff and 17,800 students – thousands of water assets onsite must be managed properly to control the risk posed by water borne pathogens including legionella bacteria.
Brunel University London enlisted Aqualytix – experts in water treatment and Legionella management – to help maintain water safety and Legionella compliance.
Today we deploy a dedicated account manager, supervisor, and a team of service technicians to safeguard the university by mitigating risks posed by Legionella bacteria in their water systems – with a heavy focus on the halls of residence.
Services We Provide
- Legionella Risk Assessments
- Domestic Hot and Cold water asset database digitalisation and standardisation
- Domestic Hot and Cold water asset compliance monitoring
- Domestic Hot and Cold water system sampling
- Domestic Hot and Cold biocidal control
- Planned preventative maintenance (PPM)
- Domestic Hot and Cold water asset remedial work
The Deliverables
Standardisation
One of the major deliverables for Brunel University London has been classifying its existing domestic water assets.
This mammoth task involved standardising the names of thousands of domestic water assets in line with HSE guidance (HSG274 Parts 1-3). In doing this, we now have one name for every domestic water asset and one method statement that determines what jobs need to be done for each asset, when they need to be done, and how. This dramatically reduces any margin for error.
Technology
We adopted ZetaSafe, which is a digital compliance logbook. It’s a cloud-based portal that we’ve made bespoke to cater for the specific needs of our customers and employees.
For Brunel University London, we use it to log all the tasks our engineers execute and to schedule future work. It records what we’ve done to service or fix their domestic water assets – via barcodes on the assets themselves that provide a date and time stamp of our work. The same portal shows the compliance status of their domestic water assets.
All parties can log on and view everything in real-time.
Reporting
Our technology provides Brunel University London with powerful real-time information, trends, and reports about their domestic water assets, empowering them to make informed, data-based decisions.
It also facilitates useful discussions we can have as a team in our monthly meetings. For example, we might discuss issues such as access where a task was attempted but couldn’t be completed due to circumstances beyond our control.
Sampling and remedial action
We use SampleTrack (LabCom) (a digital track and trace tool for water samples) to register, analyse, and report water samples from assets on the university campus.
Water sample results are communicated electronically through the IT platform once completed, allowing for ‘real time’ reporting to our customers – greatly speeding up the management of any positive samples.
Most importantly, it reassures our customers that they’re maintaining compliance and safeguarding the public’s health – including their staff and students.
Obstacles We Overcame
The Covid-19 Pandemic
During the coronavirus lockdown in 2020 and 2021, there was an increased risk of Legionella due to the university being partially occupied and water stagnating in the pipework of the buildings.
During this time, we provided Brunel University London with additional services to mitigate water hygiene risks while the university remained closed – for example, flushing to simulate daily usage and mothballing buildings.
We also helped them to reopen by providing recommissioning services including flushing, water sampling and full system clean and disinfection services to ensure all buildings were safe prior to reoccupation.
Academic Timetables
Universities work around an academic timetable that we must adhere to. At the same time, minimising disruption to university staff and students when they’re onsite.
That’s why we use and manage the BUL ZetaSafe web based compliance system to plan our work around building availability.
For example, many annual tasks, such as cold water storage tank inspections and any cleaning and disinfection identified as being required, can only be done during university holidays. Consequently, a schedule is planned to ensure all our engineer’s tasks are completed within a specific timeframe that suits the university and is within a compliance window.
The Water Assets We Manage At Brunel University
- Calorifiers
- Cold water storage tanks
- Point-of-use water heaters
- Sentinel outlets
- Non sentinel outlets
- Shower heads and spray taps
- Thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs)
Final Word From Our Client
“Aqualytix helps us to maintain compliance at the university. They do all our water temperature monitoring, sampling, chlorination, tank cleaning, inspections, and essential remedial works."
“They’re a very friendly bunch, we get on very well, and we can have frank discussions about how we sustain high water hygiene standards.”
