Every year in Australia, an average of 1,800 children suffer scald burns requiring hospital admission.
Of these, approximately 1 in 5 are due to exposure to hot tap water. Scalding can be very severe and sometimes fatal.
At 60°C, hot water will cause a third-degree burn in less than 1 second. At 50°C, hot water takes 5 minutes to cause a third-degree burn, greatly increasing the time to respond.
To prevent scalding, Australian law requires hot water from taps to be delivered at no more than 50°C (45°C in child care centres, nursing homes, primary schools, secondary schools and the like) at the outlet of sanitary fixtures, BUT, by Victorian State Law and Australian Standards, water in hot water storage tanks cannot be kept at temperatures below 60°C, to prevent the growth of the bacteria that causes the potentially fatal Legionnaires’ Disease.
What are we to do then?
This is where the Thermostatic Mixing Valve (TMV) comes into play.
The TMV blends hot and cold water, so that a constant and safe temperature of water is delivered to the user, whilst also allowing any stored water to remain at a temperature that inhibits the growth of bacteria. It’s an amazing piece of engineering that has no doubt, saved many, many lives.
Tomlinson Plumbing is licensed to install, commission and maintain thermostatic mixing valves. It’s a specialised area of plumbing that requires additional training and qualifications.
This is an article from our Thermostatic Mixing Valves Geelong Series
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