Healthcare Facility Water Safety: ASHRAE 514

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our inaugural public webinar, Healthcare Facility Water Safety: ASHRAE 514. Your engagement and thoughtful questions helped make this session a tremendous success. We were excited to explore the evolving landscape of water safety and compliance together, and we hope you left with valuable insights to support your facility’s water management efforts.

On this page, you’ll find:

• The full webinar replay
• A summary of the session
• Clarifications to two audience questions
• A free downloadable resource: ASHRAE 514 Checklists for Environments and Equipment

Watch the Replay

*If you desire higher video quality resolution, click the settings button (gear icon) > quality > select 720p or higher.

Session Overview

Is your facility aware of all the risks to water safety within a premise plumbing system, or within a sterile processing unit? Waterborne illnesses account for more than 60% of all healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs), and many of the risks can be traced to the journey of a facility’s water. This journey from point of entry to point of use brings a multitude of water safety concerns, many hidden within the pipes of a premise plumbing system.

In late 2023, ASHRAE released Standard 514—an update to ASHRAE 188—with expanded guidance focused on risk management for building water systems. The standard outlines critical updates that may significantly impact facility operations and the effectiveness of existing Water Management Plans (WMPs).

This session detailed water safety hazards, best practices, and guidance to help your facility achieve compliance and strengthen its defenses against waterborne illness.

Clarifications From the Webinar

About Copper-Silver Ionization for Water Treatment (22:53 – 25:00)

During the webinar, Brianne’s response referenced copper piping and bacteriostatic surfaces, rather than the copper-silver ionization water treatment method. To clarify, ASHRAE 514 recognizes copper-silver ionization (CSI) as a possible secondary disinfection method for managing microbial risks in building water systems. If used, it must be clearly documented within the formal water management plan, including performance validation and health risk assessment.

Also, while CSI can be effective, there are potential health concerns if copper or silver ion levels exceed regulatory thresholds:

• Copper: Short-term exposure may cause gastrointestinal distress; long-term exposure may affect the liver or kidneys
• Silver: Excessive ingestion can lead to skin discoloration (argyria), though this is rare at regulated levels

Another thing to keep in mind is that, like any other point-of-entry or point-of-supply treatment, this technology will never address every risk or hazard due to dead legs, biofilm collection in fixtures, crevices, etc. Much like with chlorine, monochloramine, or reverse osmosis, complement these treatments with point-of-use filtration for the most effective water safety protections.

About the risk of 0.005 micron pore size filters clogging (52:44 – 55:35)

While it may seem intuitive that a very small pore size filter would lead to faster clogging and reduced filtration capacity, the unique design of our hollow-fiber ultrafiltration prevents this.

The individual hollow-fiber strands each resemble a drinking straw with a tight, uniform internal “skin layer” with a 0.005 micron pore size. Common particles in tap water such as rust, silt, and debris are orders of magnitude larger and unable to lodge themselves within the pore, thus remaining suspended inside each strand. As a result, water flow remains continuous around these particles.

Additionally, each strand is very small in diameter and allows for longitudinal stacking of over 10,000 individual hollow fibers across a single DSU/SSU filter, using up almost the entire volume of the filter casing. This configuration creates a massive surface area, significantly greater than the limited membrane surface found in standard pleated filters, which rely on just a single folded cylinder.

Free Resource: ASHRAE 514 Compliance Checklists

We’ve developed a set of practical checklists to help healthcare facilities align with ASHRAE 514. These are designed for Water Management Teams to track their progress assessing risk across healthcare environments and equipment types.

Need Help Applying ASHRAE 514?

If your facility is revising its water management strategy or building a program from the ground up, we’re here to help. Contact us to set up a conversation or access additional support materials.