It is difficult to predict when a plumbing fixture will fail. However, it is much easier to recognize that some devices pose a risk to users.
Thermal shock
Accidents that occur in shower-tubs often occur when a user tries to move away from the water jet after a rapid change of temperature, whether hot or cold. If there is a rapid change in water supply to the shower-tub, a device must protect the user and maintain the water at a temperature limited to 49 ° C.
burns
Cases of water burns affect young children with more sensitive skin, older people who are slower to respond to a sudden change in temperature, and people with mobility problems who have difficulty moving around. . A water heater adjusted to 60 ° C can therefore provide water that can burn a child or a senior in less than 3 seconds. The most serious or even fatal case is when a person with reduced mobility is unable to get out of a bathtub filled with water over 49 ° C.
legionella
Legionella is a bacterium that causes extra pulmonary legionella. This disease was “discovered” in 1976, during a Congress of the American Legion in Philadelphia, hence the name given to the bacteria.
More than 182 participants were affected by a previously unknown lightning pneumonia that left more than 34 victims … However, the first strains of legionella were detected between 1943 and 1968. This bacterium proliferates in the water of which the temperature is between 40 ° C and 46 ° C, as in our water heater systems with tanks. It is now known that the way to eliminate this bacterium is to maintain the water temperature above 60 ° C. It is therefore obvious that at this temperature, the user is then exposed to the risk of serious burns.
Solution
HANSAMEDIC and POWERS thermostatic mixing valves provide a safe environment to maintain a temperature at the outlet of your faucets at 49 ° C, with a range of ± 1.5 ° C (ASSE 1016 standard). For more information, please contact your Lajoie representative.