Simplify Water Management with Smarter Systems

Healthcare facilities can have large complex water systems that encourage harmful bacteria growth if not properly maintained. When water systems are neglected, they can threaten patient safety and contribute to Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Over 20% of HAIs are linked to Legionella and other waterborne pathogens making water management essential for healthcare facility managers.

Water Management is Challenging

Water Management Programs (WMP) identify hazardous conditions and implement control measures to limit risks from water sources. Maintaining the facility plumbing system is a vital component of any water management program.

At its core, water management is about controlling and monitoring building water systems to ensure they are operating in a safe and efficient manner. Unfortunately, many healthcare plumbing systems are designed, installed, and operated without the ability to quickly and easily control or monitor their operation. This makes adherence to a WMP difficult and time consuming.  

A Smart Solution to Simplify Water Management

The Hycleen™ Automation System by GF is a digital, state-of-the-art hydraulic control and water management system able to automate control measures, monitor control limits, and provide detailed documentation and reporting.

Automate Fundamental Control Measures

Hycleen™ automates key fundamental control measures which support CDC, CMS, Joint Commission, VHA, and ASHRAE requirements for water management.

Building operators can trigger routine flushing protocols to minimize water stagnation based on time, temperature, or usage:

• Ensuring primary and/or supplemental disinfectant reaches the entire system
• Preventing slugs of disinfectant from corroding piping and equipment
• Inhibiting biofilm and bacteria growth
• Supporting temperature maintenance in non-circulating hot and cold water systems

Automated balancing of the domestic hot water system maintains temperatures at safe minimum requirements while minimizing accelerated scale build-up and reducing operating costs.

Easily Monitor Control Limits

Hycleen™ constantly monitors control limits, such as water temperatures. Monitoring serves to validate that potable water systems are operating within control limits and are aligned with the established WMP. Hycleen™ can immediately make adjustments to the hot water and cold water systems to ensure target temperatures are maintained and/or alert faciltiy personnel.

Log Data for Verification

Hycleen™ continously logs temperature and actvitity of all valves. Facility managers can easily access and interpret this critical information for system performance, risk assessment, verification, and reporting. Pre-programmed reports are quickly generated in PDF format, or XML format, which provides users flexibility to customize reports and meet specific requirements unique to their WMP.

Save Water and Energy

The key to reducing energy costs and maximizing water use is to ensure that hot water systems operate efficiently. With automated system control, based on real-time temperature data, Hycleen™ constantly maintains a balanced system to quickly deliver hot water throughout an entire facility. It is the perfect solution for reducing costs and increasing performance in new and existing facilities.

Engineers Choose to Simplify Water Management for Arizona State Veterans' Home

Two long-term care facilities in Arizona wanted to minimize the risk of Legionnaires’ disease without the use of continuous supplemental disinfectants. Engineers chose Hycleen™ to implement fundamental control strategies to prevent stagnation, minimize biofilm growth, and increase residual disinfectant levels.

In addition to each facilities ability to automate flushing of essential piping based on custom parameters, Hycleen™ simplifies key water mangement objectives by providing continuous monitoring and logging of critical data for risk assessment, verification, and reporting.

GF Piping Systems

GF Piping Systems is committed to providing reliable, innovative, and sustainable solutions to meet the rigorous demands of healthcare water systems.

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Sources

• U.S. Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC)
• U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)
• National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Legionella Assessment and Management Plan Support (LAMPS)
• Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology