Multi-sports centre, Berlin Neukölln.

Schell’s Water Management System simulates specified normal operation at this Berlin sports venue

The local authorities in Berlin/Neukölln wanted to avoid a situation where renovations to the drinking water system at Berlin’s multi-sports centre would involve extensive investment and many weeks of work. After searching for alternatives, they found that another way was possible – thanks to Schell’s Water Management System SWS.

Project data

Multi-sports centre, Werner Seelenbinder Sports Park, Berlin/Neukölln

Year of completion/opening: 1999

A triple-purpose sports venue: 28 × 45 m, 500 seats, extensible stands, boxing ring, 3 football pitches, ice rink, music system for dance competitions

SCHELL products: Water Management System SWS, SMART.SWS, VITUS VD-C-T exposed shower fitting, VITUS E electronic wash basin tap, CELIS E electronic wash basin tap, COMPACT II, EDITION E WC control, EDITION E urinal control, SCHELLTRONIC infrared exposed urinal flush valve, reduced aerosol shower head, sampling adapter, sampling angle valve

According to the local health authority, there was a significant microbial risk to the drinking water, with investigations repeatedly finding values close to legal limits. This had been caused by a lack of adequate water exchanges. The consequences of the changes to usage patterns for the sanitary facilities, as well as the over-dimensioned piping, had led to a situation where the drinking water installation was no longer being operated as originally planned – namely, at full-load operation. This made it difficult to continue to meet hygiene standards.

Choice of renovation strategy

Planners and developers therefore faced the challenge of maintaining drinking water quality while keeping renovation work to a minimum and optimising operations to ensure they stayed cost-effective. Full-scale renovations were rejected as too expensive. Ultimately, Schell offered the ideal solution as an alternative to these full-scale renovations.

To avoid the expense of replacing piping, experts from Schell recommended deploying the wireless Water Management System SWS. While the original installation was otherwise intact, this was the only way to retain the high level of concurrencies in this 20-year-old system and ensure water quality could be maintained at each tapping point. As the only water management system on the market, the Schell Water Management System SWS can also set up a wireless network using battery-operated electronic sanitary fittings. Benefits: Since no power or data cabling is required under tiling, this means that installation is also possible in existing properties. Using the central control functionality from the Water Management System, all electronic sanitary fittings can be correspondingly programmed, operated, monitored and maintained. In addition, all operating data, stagnation flushes and system/draw-off temperatures are logged – as proof of legal compliance for the system owner.

Modernisation with no interruptions to event scheduling

The multi-sports centre is equipped with several sanitary facilities on each floor. To avoid interrupting sports events at this venue while modernisation work was being completed, a decision was taken to renovate the individual facilities one after the other. A total of 76 fittings, featuring Schell’s timeless yet functional design, were installed: VITUS VD-C-T shower fittings with CVD touch electronics, thermostat and anti-scalding protection, wall-mounted VITUS VW-E-T wash basin taps and CELIS E sensor wash basin taps, COMPACT II concealed WC flush systems with contactless EDITION E WC control, EDITION E urinal controls and contactless SCHELLTRONIC exposed urinal flush valves. The 37 showers were also equipped with Schell reduced aerosol shower heads, with 13 also being fitted with a sampling valve. Sampling angle valves were also installed at 6 of 17 individual wash basins.

Intelligent management for drinking water installations

Schell’s Water Management System SWS consists of four core component assemblies: (1) fittings for two-way communication using (2) corresponding wireless or wired bus extenders as communication modules, (3) a server as the communications hub and (4) optional temperature sensors. SWS Gateway variants are also available for all popular protocols from BacNet to KNX, to facilitate the optional integration of the Water Management System into a building automation system.

Once a Wi-Fi connection to the servers had been set up on the laptop, the pre-installed software on the servers was then used to assign all fittings a unique name and configure hygiene flushes with flush modes and durations, etc. according to local requirements. The project team also made use of a key feature from Schell’s SWS Water Management System, which was absolutely essential for this property: working from the laptop, the software was used to set up smaller sub-groups of fittings, to allow the timing of hygiene flushes to be staggered and completed segment by segment. This approach ensured that turbulent flows could be generated in the large-diameter installation piping. Sustained throughout the installation, this high flow speed purged the piping of old sediment, which had not been fully removed by pipe flushing work performed after installing the fittings. These kinds of sediments promote the spread of Legionella, whose growth will now be prevented in the future.

Summary

Situated in the Werner Seelenbinder Sports Park in Berlin/Neukölln, the multi-sports centre is a good example of how specified normal operation according to regulations can be simulated even in problematic existing properties – and without requiring major structural work. The old system piping can continue to be used. The project is also proof that technically advanced functionality doesn’t merely offer economical or practical benefits but is primarily the best choice for reasons of drinking water hygiene.