Integrated solutions for drinking water and user hygiene with electronic fittings and the SWS Water Management System

Sanitary facilities on public and semi-public premises are used by a wide variety of people each and every day. As a result, there is significant potential for the transmission of disease by contact infections, although this can be minimised by using the right fittings. At the same time, building owners must ensure that the drinking water retains its high quality right up to the tapping point, without any bacterial contamination – like Legionella, for example – that could pose a health hazard. Fittings manufacturer SCHELL meets these two challenges with its proven and multiple award-winning SWS Water Management System, deployed together with a comprehensive portfolio of contactless fittings. This helps the owners comply with even the most stringent standards of hygiene across all relevant tapping points in facilities on (semi-)public premises.

Drinking water is not only vital for life but, like many other nutrients, also has an expiry date. To ensure that water retains the high quality it has when supplied by the utility, building owners must ensure a full exchange of water over all tapping points at least once every 72 hours. Otherwise, water could stagnate in the piping, leading to an excessive concentration of bacteria, such as Legionella, which is then harmful to health. In practice, carrying out the flushing necessary to ensure a proper exchange of water by hand is not only time-consuming but also ties up a lot of resources, making it effectively impossible under certain circumstances.
This is where the SCHELL SWS Water Management System comes in: networked with electronic SCHELL fittings, it helps maintain drinking water hygiene with the help of programmable, automatable stagnation flushes, while improving the cost‑effectiveness of the building and therefore generating significant added value for property operations.

A handful of components but many features: how SWS supports owners and facility managers

At the heart of the SCHELL SWS Water Management System lies the SWS Server, which networks all of the electronic fittings together via a wired or wireless connection – making SWS suitable both for new properties and as a retrofit to existing buildings. Designed as a modular system, SWS can be extended easily by a wide range of other fittings.
From wash basins and showers to kitchens, WCs and urinals: SCHELL offers network‑ready fittings for any field of application – thereby ensuring that all key tapping points and even rarely used fittings can be covered with SWS. Programmed accordingly, SWS executes stagnation flushes automatically while logging these activities. Flushes can be scheduled and also triggered based on temperature readings. Stagnation flushes and important operating parameters can always be viewed centrally in the system and are documented in full. This provides owners with important insights for conserving resources and optimising building operations.
Another key benefit is that, compared with the manual handling of the stagnation flushes required, execution by SWS not only saves time and personnel but also reduces water and energy consumption, as only the absolute minimum quantity of water is used at all times.

Smart, smarter, SMART.SWS: water management made easier than ever

For even more efficient drinking water management, SCHELL offers the online SMART.SWS service as an add-on to SWS. This enables remote access using a web browser from anywhere – and for any building – from the convenience of the user’s phone, tablet or laptop. Building owners and facility managers can access analysis data online at any time and also check important status messages or reports. This also makes it considerably easier to plan maintenance and repair work. In this way, the SCHELL SWS Water Management System and SMART.SWS work to make hygienic drinking water management more comfortable and efficient than ever before. This has won the company many accolades, not only in its home region of Sauerland in Germany, but also worldwide. For its solutions to maintaining drinking water quality, SCHELL has been presented with a range of international prizes, such as the iF Design Award, the Plus X Award, the Iconic Award, the German Innovation Award and, most recently, the World Future Award – proof that innovative technology, practical design and sustainable quality are what building owners, users, planners and fitters are looking for.

Improving user hygiene with electronic fittings

When used together with SWS, electronic SCHELL fittings are an important part of maintaining drinking water quality. In addition, they can also be used to significantly improve user hygiene. Low‑contact fittings only need to be touched once to activate the flow of water: they then close automatically after a specified flow time (one touch, using CVD electronics). With contactless fittings, intelligent infrared sensors ensure operation without any physical contact at all. When the hand is moved into the sensor range, the flow of water starts. When the hand is removed, the flow stops automatically, so that the fitting does not need to be touched once hands are clean. This effectively minimises the risk of contact infections and provides optimal support for user health. This is especially beneficial in sanitary facilities on (semi-)public and commercial premises that are used by a diverse group of people. A beneficial side effect is that water and energy consumption can be significantly reduced with the use of electronic SCHELL fittings. Compared with conventional single-lever mixers, low-contact CVD taps cut water use by up to 55%, with contactless taps achieving savings as high as 70%. Common to all SCHELL taps and fittings is their highly functional design, modern aesthetic appeal and robust material quality.