Safety is an absolute must in any industrial facility and tankless water heaters can help improve the performance of eyewash and shower stations.
Industrial plants often need to use hazardous materials to carry out their operations. If workers are adhering to the best safety practices within the plant, the potential of a dangerous incident should be limited. However, accidents do happen, and without the proper safety equipment, workers can be seriously injured on the job.
This makes eyewash and drench showers extremely important in any facility. Water in this equipment needs to meet tepid water temperature standards in order to ensure that the it can effectively clean a worker of contaminants, without burning or causing hypothermia.
ANSI Requirements
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration directs plants to the ANSI requirements for ensuring that temperature and functioning of shower and eye wash stations. According to OHS Online, water needs to be above 60 degrees F and below 100 degrees F to prevent harm to eyes and tissue. While these are broader guidelines, the specific temperature should be made sure to account for the unique properties of the facility itself.
They also need to be able to support required flow rates. OHS Online noted that water must be able to flow from a shower at a flow rate of 20 gallons per minute at 30 pounds per square inch. On top of this, safety showers should be spaced within 100 feet of each other throughout the plant and be accessible within ten seconds.
Finally, showers need to be continually tested for performance. By meeting ANSI Z358.1 requirements, plant mangers can ensure that showers are always ready to perform.
Tankless water heaters a solution
Electric tankless water heaters are emerging as a lucrative solution to making sure that sowers are meeting ANSI standards. Tankless water heaters are 90 percent smaller than water tanks, and can be deployed at the point of use, saving space, and making sure that showers can access tepid water as soon as it is needed. In tank water heating solutions, there may be a delay between when the shower is activated and the tepid water arrives.
Not all tankless water heaters are the same. Because of the way some are designed, any slight fluctuation in flow rate could severely drive up the temperature of the water. In order to prevent scalding, these water heaters have a dump function in which the water is flushed out. While this is good in preventing scalding, it also dumps hot water all over the floor of the plant, creating its own safety hazards.
Eemax tankless water heaters have been designed to react quicker, there by eliminating the need for this function, and enhancing the performance of these water heaters.