In a hospital, stagnant water meets the most vulnerable people. Healthcare-associated infections caused by Legionella and Pseudomonas can trace back to the drinking water system.
Aqvior tackles this proactively: the automatic hygiene flush keeps rarely used water moving and removes the stagnation Legionella need, before it becomes a risk.
Immunosuppressed patients
In patients with pre-existing conditions, Legionnaires' disease runs a far more severe course. Where water stagnates, the highest risk meets the most vulnerable people.
Pseudomonas & biofilm
Pseudomonas colonises shower heads and hoses and forms a biofilm. A standard Legionella test does not pick it up.
Fixed annual testing interval
A hospital supplies drinking water in the course of a public activity, so the annual testing interval under the TrinkwV applies and may not be extended. In addition, the KRINKO recommendations on infection prevention and its own documentation duties apply.
100 CFU/100 ml
Action level
at least yearly
Testing interval
no extension
What is different for hospitals
Legal basis: Annex 3 Part II, § 31 (2) no. 2, § 31 (3) sentence 2 and § 51 (1) TrinkwV.
The room that has stood empty for two weeks. The on-call shower that only runs on night duty. The ward that was closed over the summer. In a hospital the longest stagnation regularly coincides with the most vulnerable patients, and that is exactly where showering releases aerosol.
The annual sample shows the day the water was drawn, and nothing else. Between two samples lie twelve months in which nobody can show whether the rarely used shower ran at all.
Why the shower is the critical point →
In a hospital, water hygiene is part of patient safety. Rarely used showers are exactly where Legionella and Pseudomonas can take hold, so Aqvior flushes them automatically and keeps an unbroken record of every flush, audit-ready for your infection-control management.
Hospitals are subject to the German Drinking Water Ordinance, with an annual testing interval under TrinkwV § 31 that may not be extended. In addition, the KRINKO recommendations on infection prevention apply, with its own documentation duties.
Testing intervals in detail →Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonises shower heads and hoses. It is dangerous for immunosuppressed patients, and a standard Legionella test does not pick it up.
Pseudomonas in drinking water →Legionella grows in standing warm water and becomes a respirable aerosol in the shower. Breathed in, it can cause a severe pneumonia.
Symptoms and course →It is not the installation that is examined, but the records about it.
The sampling plan
Which outlets are sampled and why those — not only the water heater.
The results, and what came next
Not the lab report alone, but the measures and when they were done.
The temperatures
60 °C at the water heater, 55 °C in the circulation — and the evidence that hot water reaches the outlet.
The rarely used outlets
A flushing plan shows intent; only what is logged counts as evidence.
Detects rarely used showers, for example in isolation rooms, on-call rooms or wards occupied only in season.
After 72 hours it flushes on its own — in critical areas the interval can be set shorter. It powers itself via a turbine in the water flow, needs no power connection and no bathroom renovation.
Every flush lands in the dashboard with a timestamp, together with the temperature of the water that came out. The entry answers not only whether it flushed, but whether hot water arrived.
Hospitals supply drinking water in the course of a public activity, which carries an annual testing interval at a representative number of outlets. Because patients at higher risk of infection are present, it may not be extended to three years. The local health authority can order shorter intervals.
No. The legally required testing targets Legionella spec. For Pseudomonas aeruginosa the Federal Environment Agency recommends at least annual testing in hospitals, care homes and nurseries, plus testing on new build, conversion and refurbishment. That recommendation is the basis, not the Legionella test.
Rarely used outlets in areas with vulnerable patients: isolation rooms, temporarily closed units, on-call and staff showers. That is where the longest stagnation meets the highest infection risk.
The fitting is surface-mounted, with no chasing work and no changes to the pipework. A bathroom is retrofitted in under an hour, so the retrofit can be done unit by unit during ongoing operation.
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The content on this page is for general information and does not replace legal, technical or health advice in individual cases. Information on Legionella and the associated health risks is general in nature and constitutes neither medical advice nor an assessment of a specific drinking water system. For implementation in your facility, coordinate the specific situation with the local health authority.
Aqvior flushes rarely used showers automatically and documents every flush in an audit-ready way.
Safety for your patients, with no extra work for your team.
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