How BRITA Ensures Water Dispenser Hygiene & Safety
We understand that businesses, education centres, and healthcare providers have hygiene and safety as their primary concern. As we aim to offer everybody the best possible drinking water experience, we consider not only convenience, ease of accessibility and taste but also broader factors such as health, safety and sustainability. This is what makes BRITA the complete solution. This article outlines specifically, how BRITA’s mains-fed water dispensers make drinking water as safe as it possibly can be. Beyond the hygiene protection our solutions provide, they also help protect water dispensers which lowers their maintenance cost.
Why Mains-Fed Dispensers Are More Hygienic Than Bottle-Fed
Bottle-fed water dispensers are your typical office water dispenser, featuring a water tank at the top that is fed through to a tap either via gravity or pressure. This differs from mains-fed dispensers which are plumbed directly into the mains water supply. With bottle-fed dispensers, as water is used, the remaining space in the tank is replaced with air. Resultingly, this creates an ideal agar plate for bacteria to grow and propagate: ambient standing water, an appliance to latch onto and oxygen for respiration.
If a bottle-fed water dispenser hasn’t been cleaned regularly, it isn’t uncommon to see bacterial growth - usually in the form of algae. Moreover, every time a bottle is changed you expose it to air which is naturally teeming with bacteria. A mains-fed dispenser, however, supplies treated water to the consumer directly, which hasn’t been standing for long periods exposed to air and resulting bacteria.
Proven hygiene and cleanliness – for excellence in fresh-filtered water provision.
BRITA VIVREAU water dispensers are made in Europe and have served in the most hygiene-sensitive facilities, including hospitals, for over 20 years. Our tried-and-tested HygienePlus solution complies with stringent food hygiene standards and the microbiological specifications of the German Drinking Water Ordinance. The cleanliness of BRITA VIVREAU systems has also been certified by independent institutes.
Setting the industry benchmark for outstanding water dispenser hygiene.
The HygienePlus solution comprises three safeguards – with the additional measure of smart digital monitoring. Outstanding filtration performance reduces potentially health affecting bacteria, cysts, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, legionella, and E. coli. The ThermalGate™ additionally shields the tap outlet from retrograde contamination including microorganisms.
This industry benchmark system, dispensing hygienically pristine and refreshing filtered water, has been designed with over two decades of experience in some of the most hygiene-sensitive healthcare sectors. HygienePlus has been tested in multiple studies at hygiene institutes, including the German University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, confirming microbiological safety to exacting DVGW standards.
BRITA HygienePlus: Proven three-zone-protection - digitally monitored.
HygienePlus comprises two unique BRITA filtration solutions, one on the inlet and the other before the water outlet. The third protection stage is a thermal anti-contamination safeguard.
- CLARITY Protect: The inlet filter includes a pre-filter to remove coarse particles, activated carbon filtration to reduce substances that impair taste and odour and hollow fibre membrane filters to reduce pharmaceuticals, organic impurities and metals such as lead and many more. Hollow fibre membrane filters out 99.999 % of bacteria (including E. coli and Legionella) and 99.95 % of cysts.
- CLARITY Safe X3: Double-layer membrane filters out microplastics, 99.99999 % of bacteria (including Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and 99.95 % of cysts.
- ThermalGateTM: This safeguard automatically and regularly heats the tap to protect against contamination from external sources. The tap of a typical water dispenser is exposed: a sneeze or the touch of a hand, for example, can introduce germs. Without robust protection, microorganisms on the tap can contaminate the dispenser.
HygienePlus Water Dispenser.
Your advantage in a nutshell – water dispensers with the HygienePlus solution ensure impeccably filtered water every time.
End-to-end hygiene, benchmark filtration and outstanding cleanliness.
360-degree service for peace-of-mind at every stage. During consultation, purchase, operation, and after-sales support. We offer you the security of quantifiably sustainable solutions, optimal systems, lasting profitability, and the all-important feeling of making the right decision - for your business, for your environment and for our world.
Hygiene and safety at BRITA are not just confined to the technology within the dispenser itself. We take a holistic approach to ensure the most rigorous safety standard. At BRITA, this starts with the dispensers’ manufacture. Our recently established manufacturing facility in Italy is fitted with state-of-the-art hygiene technology. Moreover, when it comes to installing your water dispenser our technicians observe the strictest safety protocols.
As part of our servicing packages, our technicians offer full system sanitisation. This includes all the inner workings of your water dispenser such as the internal pipework and mains-fed water connection, and external touch points such as ventilation grills, nozzles, taps and drip trays. Filter cartridges are also replaced to ensure continued performance.
Hygiene at the production site.
Your BRITA VIVREAU dispenser begins life in a hygiene-certified facility in Italy. And it starts as it means to go on. Assembly is gloves only and contamination-free with random critical component batch testing and regular production personnel hygiene training. Dispensers are 100% microbiologically checked and when approved and ready, all surfaces of every dispenser are cleaned and disinfected ready for delivery.
Hygiene at the customer’s location.
Our service technicians follow strict safety procedures when handling and installing your dispenser. The system is chemically cleaned inside and out during fitting. Regular chemical cleaning of the dispenser by BRITA service personnel, as part of a regular maintenance schedule, ensures seamless functionality and operational quality.
Regular cleaning on-site.
Regular cleaning of the dispenser’s external surfaces is an indispensable part of hygienic practice. To prevent on-site contamination, BRITA VIVREAU provides operators with detailed information on cleaning the individual components as well as on the appropriate cleaning agents to use.
Hygiene features.
ThermalGateTM protects against retrograde contamination and is continuously active, providing protection not only at peak times, but also during periods of inactivity, such as at night or on weekends. No manual effort or chemical additive is required.
Our special BRITA HygienePlus solution comprises three safeguards – with the additional safety measure of smart digital monitoring. This industry benchmark design delivers an outstanding degree of protection for even the most demanding hygiene-sensitive environments.