Potable Water High Temperature Issue

Problem: Accommodation Blocks A, B, C, Mosque and Office Block experience high temperature of
potable water coming out from cold portion of the Taps, particularly in peak summer months of April, May,
June and July.

Possible Causes:

There are two possible causes of the above-mentioned problem:

1. Potable Water temperature swing with ambient temperature

2. Inter-mixing of hot water stream in to the cold water stream of potable water

A couple of potable water temperature surveys have been conducted over a period of time, by CWA
(Saeed), SMS (Intizar) and Site ME (myself), to identify the root cause of the problem. Details of the
surveys are as under:

Survey # 01:

Purpose: To determine the impact of ambient temperature swing on potable water temperature

Conducted in: May and June 2010

Time: Approx. 1200 hrs to 1500 hrs

Ambient Temperature: approx. 45 C

Methodology: Water heating sources, i.e. Geysers and Hot Water Unit, were turned-off in May and they
were kept turned-off for 2 months.

Following were the temperatures noted by laser gun and thermometer at selected locations:

 At the inlet of RO Unit: approx. 38 C

 At the outlet of RO Unit: approx. 39 C
 Inside Potable Water Tank (by removing top cover): approx. 39 C
 Office block washroom: approx. 39 C (after running the tap for 2~3 minutes)
 Mosque: approx. 40 C (after running the tap for 2~3 minutes)
 Average Cold Water Temperature in Block-A Rooms: approx. 43 C (after running the tap for 2~3
minutes)
 Average Cold Water Temperature in Block-B Rooms: approx. 43 C
 Average Cold Water Temperature in Block-C Rooms: approx. 44 C (after running the tap for 2~3
minutes)
 ZGP experienced some rainy patches in the first week of June 2010, and ambient temperatures came
down to approx. 25 C. During this week, there were no complaints of potable water high

Rev-01 11-02-201
temperatures. In the second week of June, ambient temperatures again rose back to approx. 45 C,
and the complaints about potable water high temperature resurfaced again. As mentioned earlier,
during this whole period, Geysers and Hot Water units remained turned-off. This goes to show that
ambient temperature swings have significant impact on potable water temperature.

Survey # 02:

Purpose: To determine the impact of intermixing of cold and hot water streams on potable water
temperature

Conducted in: Dec 2010

Time: approx. 1000 hrs to 1100 hrs

Ambient Temperature: approx. 18 C

Methodology: Block-C Cold water supply was turned-off and circuit was drained by opening cold
water taps. Hot water supply and return circuits were kept on running. Then cold water taps were kept
opened to see if there was any hot water coming out of them, which would indicate intermixing of hot
and cold streams. During the observation period, after the draining of cold water circuit, in general we
did not observe hot water coming out of the cold water taps.

There is a specific portion of rooms in Block-C (C25 to C36) where, when cold water taps are opened
up after a period of inactivity (such as first use in the morning) warm water flows for a period of 2-3
minutes, and after that water temperature normalizes to a certain degree.

There could be few reasons for this phenomenon. The cold water supply line, hot water supply line,
and hot water return lines are running in parallel. Due to their close proximity, some heat transfer
between the hot and cold lines is possible. Cold water lines, when stagnant, may be gaining heat
from nearby hot water circuits. However, chances of this phenomenon would be quite low since
PPRC is a generally non-conducting material. There is another possibility, during the erection of the
cold and hot water circuits, the hot water return circuit of any individual room might have mistakenly
got connected with the parallel running cold water circuit. This can cause small level mixing of hot and
cold water streams. There is also one NRV installed at the juncture of hot and cold water streams on
Hot water unit. Passing of the NRV can cause intermixing issues; however, this might not be the case
since passing of this NRV would also affect other Accommodation Blocks. Contribution of faulty
plumbing fittings towards intermixing issue is another possibility.

Conclusion:

1. Ambient temperature swing has the most significant impact on potable water high temperature
issue. During peak summer season, all the Accommodation blocks, mosque and office block
receive hot potable water from cold water taps.
2. However, during winter season, only rooms in a specific portion of Block-C (C25-C36) have
complaints of warmish water coming from cold water taps. These rooms appear to be affected by
minor intermixing in the cold water circuit at certain locations.

Rev-01 11-02-201
Recommendation and actions:

1. It is proposed that HVAC Chiller unit should be installed to bring about a change of approx. 15-20
°C in potable water temperature. This will benefit all the Accommodation Blocks, Mosque, Office
Blocks, Kitchens and Washing areas during peak summer months of April – July when the site
ambient temperatures frequently ranges from 40 – 50 °C.
a. Action: The task for designing, selection, ordering and installation of appropriate Chiller
system, through Management of Change Process, has been assigned to Sr. Process
Engineer in Islamabad, against Action Tracker No. 22238.

2. If the intermixing cannot be eliminated by replacement of faulty plumbing fittings, then it is

proposed that a separate cold water line should be layed along Block-C, supplying cold water to
specific portion of rooms in Block-C, for mitigation of inter-mixing issue of hot and cold water
stream. This will benefit specific rooms in Block-C and solve their complaints about warm water
problems.
a. Action: During a maintenance activity in Junior Kitchen, it was found that the basin taps in
Junior Kitchen are a major contributor to intermixing of hot/cold water streams in affected
portion of Block-C. The hot water supply lines to the Junior Kitchen taps were kept closed
for a couple of days, and significant improvement was observed in the potable water
temperatures in the affected portion of Block-C. GSAP Notification No. 72185434 has
been raised for replacement of faulty taps in Junior Kitchen. Therefore, provision of new
cold water line for affected rooms in Block-C is not being persued.

Rev-01 11-02-201