Guest Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 Hi - I am hoping someone out there will have some idea of how we can solve this . We operate out of a multi - use church hall . We recently had a very sucessful ofsted and the only thing they raised with us ( In Keeping Healthy ) was the fact that we dont allow the children to turn the hot water taps on in the toilets ( we put the plugs in and provide water in the bowl for the children to use for handwashing , and we drain and refill regullarly to ensure it is as clean as poss ) . The reason for this is that the hot water coming out of the tap is too hot for the children to use . The ofsted lady said that doing what we do was acceptable for normal circumstance but the children need to be able to access running hot water for food activities ect . We have had a meeting with the committee of church people responsible for the hall we rent and they say that due the need to kill off any likely hood of legionnaires disease the water cannot be luke warm - it has to be hot , so the temp cant be turned down . I know many of you also work out of similar and premises - just wondered how you all get past this or if you have ever had similar problems. Diz Quote
Guest Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) Yes we have had this exact same problem. The hall committee turned down the temperature for us, it is still quite hot but ......slightly better. As for Legionaires disease, I have heard about the risks but do not have any info, presume the water should be and is tested regularly but that is a requirement for the hall committee not us. Will ask the chairperson as he regularly checks up on us - whoops - I mean visits us to make sure we are happy and not hurting the precious wooden floor!! Edited May 14, 2009 by Guest Quote
Guest Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 We too operate from a church hall. When we moved in, the church had the hot water tank thermostatically controlled, so that the water is hot but not burning. The temperatue is OK for the children and no one has been burnt or suffered from legionnaires disease yet and we have been there 10 years!! Perhaps they could do the same for you - depends on how accommodating they are I suppose Quote
Cait Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 My plumber is going to fit us with a mixer on the pipe to introduce cold water to the taps the children use to make it 38 degrees Quote
louby loo Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 I though legionaires was a problem if the have air condtioning and water leaks back to main supply (but that my just be my own thoughts on the subject) We have luke warm water from our toilet taps the scouts are happy with this as it must save on bills. We do have a 'urn' in kitchen which is used for washing up water. xx Quote
Guest Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 We have a thermostat on the water so it is not too hot for the children and it is only in the bathroom (still have very hot water elsewhere). We are supposed to have regular testing for legionnaires bacteria but I don't think that it is killed off by hand hot water. As far as I know the water would have to be much hotter than would come from a tap. Hence the need for regular testing and it has something to do with storage of water too. Quote
Panders Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 Hi DizzyLizzy, What kind of food activities would required the children to use hot water independently from the tap? Does she mean food safety - i.e. washing their hands before doing a food activity? Surely, they could have individual washes in hot enough water with with soap, with an adult present. This kind of nit picking by Ofsted takes the pip. Our water is too hot in the taps, our landlords did turn it down upon request, but were told by Health & Safety that it had to be at a certain temperature and it was put back up again. Quote
Guest Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 We have had this issue, the way we solved it was by turning off the hot water at the start of every session and running the taps until it ran cool. We had our Ofsted inspection recently and the inspecter said it was fine, better for the children to wash their hands in cool running water, rather than warm water in communual bowls. Claire x Quote
salm Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 you need to have a thermal blending valve fitted to the water leading to the basins this will allow the water for the children to come out cooler. water should be stored at 62 degrees or above to stop legionnaires breeding. Salm Quote
Cait Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 Yep - that's what it's called - our plumber doing one for us Quote
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