Are the showers too cold?
March 3, 2020 10:37 AM Subscribe
Is there a minimum water temperature a locker room shower should reach?
I work out in the gym at my public university (florida) and shower in the locker room before returning to work. The showers are one of those single-knob deals, where you adjust the water temperature by turning the knob up or down. When turned up to its hottest temperature, the water coming out is cold. Not just lukewarm, but... brisk. As in barely tolerable. This applies to all the showers in the locker room. If another person is taking a shower at the same time, the water temperature will rise noticeably, and frequently someone will turn the water on in an empty stall while they shower in another.
I googled around a little, and was able to find regulations about the maximum water temperature for a shower, but nothing about a minimum. Are there any actual rules (florida or elsewhere) about a shower being able to reach a tolerable temperature?
I work out in the gym at my public university (florida) and shower in the locker room before returning to work. The showers are one of those single-knob deals, where you adjust the water temperature by turning the knob up or down. When turned up to its hottest temperature, the water coming out is cold. Not just lukewarm, but... brisk. As in barely tolerable. This applies to all the showers in the locker room. If another person is taking a shower at the same time, the water temperature will rise noticeably, and frequently someone will turn the water on in an empty stall while they shower in another.
I googled around a little, and was able to find regulations about the maximum water temperature for a shower, but nothing about a minimum. Are there any actual rules (florida or elsewhere) about a shower being able to reach a tolerable temperature?
The problem you are going to have is that this set up will pass whatever testing they do - there is a way to get hot water out of the showers it just requires more than one of them be turned on. I recently downgraded my gym membership due to austerity and deal with the same one-dial set up and can tell you its fickle, especially in older or public construction.
I would think that hot water would, regulations-wise, fall into habitability requirements for homes, and not be addressed for gym settings (where, as mskyle points out, some dont have them - ive never understood people who would consider or actually use one of those places, but they exist apparently).
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:09 AM on March 3, 2020
I would think that hot water would, regulations-wise, fall into habitability requirements for homes, and not be addressed for gym settings (where, as mskyle points out, some dont have them - ive never understood people who would consider or actually use one of those places, but they exist apparently).
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:09 AM on March 3, 2020
If the problem is that they aren't letting the boilers get up to a high enough temperature because of stinginess, that would be a great way to get Legionnaires disease. But I don't know if that is an element here.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 12:22 PM on March 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 12:22 PM on March 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm fairly certain there's no regulation for minimum water temperature for a shower, since while it's very easy to die or get severely injured from scalding hot water, it's a lot less easy to say the same about a cold shower. Construction codes are about safety, not comfort, and any shower hot enough to kill microbes is also hot enough to kill you too.
posted by Aleyn at 12:34 PM on March 3, 2020
posted by Aleyn at 12:34 PM on March 3, 2020
Best answer: I believe Florida uses the IPC at their model plumbing code. I am only familiar with the UPC, which is used in many other states. The UPC states that hot water must be provided to bathing fixtures. Hot water is defined as as 120 deg F and up.
2015 UPC
601.2
“In occupancies where plumbing fixtures are installed for private use, hot water shall be required for bathing, washing, laundry, cooking purposes, dishwashing or maintenance. In occupancies where plumbing fixtures are installed for public use, hot water shall be required for bathing and washing purposes. This requirement shall not supersede the requirements for individual temperature control limitations for public lavatories and public and private bidets, bathtubs, whirlpool bathtubs, and shower control valves.”
210.0
"Hot water. Water a temperature exceeding or equal to 120 deg F (49 deg C)."
posted by cnidaria at 1:08 PM on March 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
2015 UPC
601.2
“In occupancies where plumbing fixtures are installed for private use, hot water shall be required for bathing, washing, laundry, cooking purposes, dishwashing or maintenance. In occupancies where plumbing fixtures are installed for public use, hot water shall be required for bathing and washing purposes. This requirement shall not supersede the requirements for individual temperature control limitations for public lavatories and public and private bidets, bathtubs, whirlpool bathtubs, and shower control valves.”
210.0
"Hot water. Water a temperature exceeding or equal to 120 deg F (49 deg C)."
posted by cnidaria at 1:08 PM on March 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: thanks for pointing me at the plumbing codes - i wasn't sure where I should be looking for info on this stuff. The IPC suggests that gym showers should be running 'tempered water'
So if the hottest a shower can get is < 85 °, that would appear to be a code violation, I guess.
posted by logicpunk at 9:56 AM on March 4, 2020
Section 607 Hot Water Supply SystemTempered water is apparently defined as "...water having a temperature range between 85 °F and 110 °F. "
607.1 Where Required
In residential occupancies, hot water shall be supplied to plumbing fixtures and equipment utilized for bathing, washing, culinary purposes, cleansing, laundry or building maintenance. In nonresidential occupancies, hot water shall be supplied for culinary purposes, cleansing, laundry or building maintenance purposes. In nonresidential occupancies, hot water or tempered water shall be supplied for bathing and washing purposes.
So if the hottest a shower can get is < 85 °, that would appear to be a code violation, I guess.
posted by logicpunk at 9:56 AM on March 4, 2020
Yeah, that's kind of a bummer because 85 F is not that hot.
Tempered water is that lukewarm stuff that comes out of the faucet in highway rest stops. Often we use a mixing valve to bring down the temperature for point-of-use safety. Water for eyewash stations is also tempered, for example.
Generally we want the hot water in our pipes hot to make it less likely Legionella will grow, and temper at point of use. But you pretty much have to get to 140 F before you're killing Legionella, which is very hot. The code doesn't specifically address min storage temperatures or Legionella bacteria growth, but it's an ongoing engineering concern. But for storage and distribution, not for point-of-use tempering.
Showers generally require a valve that will balance changes in pressures and temperatures (so you don't get scalded if someone flushes the toilet in an undersized system).
Anyway, it sounds like in your situation, there IS hot water in the hot water supply pipe to the showers. It's just that the cold is at a higher pressure, or some other weirdness. Maybe you can talk the gym into having a plumber come and adjust the system, based on the fact that people are using 2 showers' worth of water for one shower?
posted by cnidaria at 6:13 AM on March 5, 2020
Tempered water is that lukewarm stuff that comes out of the faucet in highway rest stops. Often we use a mixing valve to bring down the temperature for point-of-use safety. Water for eyewash stations is also tempered, for example.
Generally we want the hot water in our pipes hot to make it less likely Legionella will grow, and temper at point of use. But you pretty much have to get to 140 F before you're killing Legionella, which is very hot. The code doesn't specifically address min storage temperatures or Legionella bacteria growth, but it's an ongoing engineering concern. But for storage and distribution, not for point-of-use tempering.
Showers generally require a valve that will balance changes in pressures and temperatures (so you don't get scalded if someone flushes the toilet in an undersized system).
Anyway, it sounds like in your situation, there IS hot water in the hot water supply pipe to the showers. It's just that the cold is at a higher pressure, or some other weirdness. Maybe you can talk the gym into having a plumber come and adjust the system, based on the fact that people are using 2 showers' worth of water for one shower?
posted by cnidaria at 6:13 AM on March 5, 2020
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posted by mskyle at 10:58 AM on March 3, 2020 [2 favorites]