All water fittings in a bathroom must be supplied via an appropriate and adequate form of backflow protection, one which is rated either equal to or higher than the highest downstream contamination risk (fluid category) for the type of backflow (back pressure or back siphonage) it is likely to be exposed to.
Bathing equipment in a nursing or care environment is considered to be a fluid category 5 risk. The supplies to all taps and showers outlets must be protected by a suitable form of fluid category 5 backflow protection. In practice this means being supplied from storage incorporating an adequate air gap (such as a Type AB air gap) or by maintaining a gap between a tap and shower outlet and spill over level of 20 mm or twice the diameter of the supply pipe (whichever is the greater) measured as shown below.
Fluid category 5 : Type AUK3 tap gap
20 mm or twice the internal diameter of the tap or shower connection whichever is the greater
For example: tap or shower size | minimum tap gap |
8 mm | 20 mm |
10 mm | 20 mm |
12 mm | 24 mm |
15 mm | 30 mm |
20 mm | 40 mm |
25 mm | 50 mm |
Please refer to the assisted bathing equipment leaflet for additional information.
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience with Water Regs UK. Some are essential to provide website functions and ensure the website is secure. We also use cookies to help us understand how people use the site and to make improvements. Click "Accept All" to enable recommended settings or click "Manage cookies" to adjust your settings. For more details, see our Cookie Policy.
