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The Role of Emergency Safety Showers in Water Waste Treatment Plants

Writer's picture: Niall KellyNiall Kelly

A water treatment plant.

What Risks Do Emergency Safety Showers Mitigate In Waste Water Treatment Plants?


Waste Water Treatment Plants use a lot of toxic chemicals and substances such as Sodium hydroxide, hydrated lime, sulphate, chlorine and chloramine, which can cause skin or eye irritation, burns, and severe injuries (or worse) if a worker becomes directly exposed to them. While wearable PPE should always be worn, should the unthinkable happen and a worker become exposed then they should have ready access to an emergency safety shower and eye wash unit to thoroughly carry out a full body decontamination. 



What Standards Do Emergency Safety Showers Need to Meet?


Emergency safety showers need to be able to supply a continuous supply of tepid water for at least 15 minutes at the rate of 76l per minute. What is ‘tepid’ defined as?  The EN standard stipulates 15 to 37C (59 to 98F), while the ANSI standard defines it as 6 to 38C (60 to 100F). If the environment is too cold (or hot) to sustain this, then heating and cooling units are available in order to maintain the water at the appropriate temperature range.


They should also be placed within 10 seconds of reach of a hazard and should be clearly signposted. The path to them should not be hindered by obstacles, and all those working in the facility must be briefed as to their use.


It is also a requirement that emergency safety showers are activated weekly.


What Emergency Safety Shower is Recommended for a WWTP?


Local factors will of course influence the exact type of safety shower unit best suited to your facility, but in essence, the Hughes 1500L Emergency Safety Shower and Eye Wash Unit is an ideal base unit. It comes in variants, such as an immersion-heated unit, to suit local requirements. It can be plumbed into the mains or self-contained. The 1500L tank is sufficient to meet the requirement to supply water at the rate of 76l per minute for a quarter of an hour. You can find out more about this safety shower here.


If you have any questions about emergency safety showers, whether it be for Water Waste Treatment Plants or any other industry, please feel free to get in touch with our team on 0402 32116 (Arklow) or 021 484 1370 (Cork), and they’ll be happy to advise on the best solution. 










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