Hello everyone,

This may seem like a basic question, but I am getting some pushback from our plumbing contractors on this.

We have a brand new facility and I went through to test all of the eyewash and emergency shower stations. At first everything seemed to be working fine, but then I noticed that the emergency eyewash water was getting warmer. I was horrified when the eyewash water became hot. I have never encountered hot eyewash water before. I had the contractors re-plumb the eyewash stations into cold tap water only. Now they are pushing back, wanting to hook the eyewash stations back into the hot water.

I also noticed that our emergency shower is releasing hot water.

Are there any regulations surrounding eyewash and emergency shower temperatures? My understanding has always been to have cold, potable tap water running into emergency showers and eyewashes so that chemical reactions are not accelerated upon exposure to heat. Regardless, with the temperatures that our eyewash stations were reaching, there was no way that anyone could keep their eyeballs open for 10 minutes in this water. Any information is appreciated, especially information that will put this debate to rest.

Thank you!

Tyrell R. Towle, Ph.D.
Senior Chemist
MedPharm Holdings, LLC
www.medpharmholdings.com

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