A recent research introduces a practical, point-of-use (PoU)-based method using ecomaps to accurately and efficiently map complex water and sanitation systems in hospitals, enhancing safety planning and risk management.
Imagine this: You’re in a hospital, and the water you use to wash your hands or drink from the tap is the very thing making people sick 😷. Now imagine preventing that—not by checking where the water comes from, but where it ends up. That’s exactly what a group of researchers in Germany did, and they turned water safety planning on its head (literally!) with an innovative new approach.
This is the story of how engineers and hygiene experts joined forces to make hospitals safer, starting from the Point of Use (PoU)—where water flows out, not in—and using ecomaps to track everything.
Water safety in buildings is critical—especially in hospitals where vulnerable patients can be severely affected by waterborne pathogens like Legionella or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Traditional Water Safety Plans (WSPs) start from the Point of Entry (PoE)—where water comes into a building—and trace it to where it is used. But this can be incredibly complex in hospitals with multiple floors, pipe networks, and undocumented renovations 🏗️.
So, the researchers flipped the script.
The team proposed a PoU-first approach, starting right at the tap, shower, or toilet—where people actually use the water. Instead of guessing what’s inside the walls and under the floors, they mapped out what’s physically visible and accessible.
🗺️ How? With ecomaps—visual diagrams showing the entire water system using color codes and simple symbols, like:
🔵 Blue cross for cold water tap
🔴 Red cross for hot water tap
🟣 Purple for toilets and urinals
🌸 Pink for showers and baths
🟤 Brown for sewage pipes
These symbols were drawn over floor plans (like fire safety maps) and later digitized into interactive, layered PDFs for easy updating and sharing.
The team designed the system to meet four practical engineering goals:
✅ Completeness: It covers all important parts of the system.
💻 Simplicity: Can be done with regular tools—pens, paper, computers.
👷 Low manpower: Doesn't need extra hiring or advanced training.
🔐 Secure: Easy to version, update, and prevent tampering.
The researchers tested their method in a modern hospital wing in Germany. Here’s what they found:
💦 Mapped 74 washbasins, 35 toilets, and 26 showers.
🚿 13 washbasins had automatic flushing systems—a major factor in preventing bacterial buildup.
🚽 11 toilets used graywater and 28 used firefighting water—yes, even that gets reused!
By creating digital ecomaps with layers, they could show:
Hospitals can harbor dangerous bacteria:
🧬 Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Thrives in moist environments, hard to kill, and causes deadly infections.
🌡️ Legionella pneumophila: Grows in lukewarm water and causes Legionnaires’ disease—a severe type of pneumonia.
Ecomaps help teams spot:
Plus, if there’s a contamination outbreak, ecomaps make it way easier to trace the source—saving time, money, and lives.
This approach doesn’t just stop at hygiene.
By also mapping sewage systems, the team can:
Hospitals are hotspots for resistant bacteria (like MRSA), and ecomaps help control how these microbes exit through sewage.
This PoU + ecomap method is compatible with ISO-certified management systems like:
✅ ISO 9001 (Quality)
🌱 ISO 14001 (Environmental)
🛡️ ISO 45001 (Safety)
Ecomaps can plug directly into:
It’s a cross-functional engineering solution that blends hygiene, plumbing, mapping, and IT—all in one!
In a world where infrastructure can be targeted (physically or digitally), water security matters more than ever. The team suggests adding extra map layers for:
🔓 Doors and access points
📶 Wi-Fi & cable routing (for cybersecurity)
🚨 Emergency water shutoff locations
These enhancements turn the ecomap into an emergency blueprint for crisis response, cyberattacks, or natural disasters.
This research aligns directly with:
But there’s a problem: At current rates, 2 billion people will still lack clean drinking water by 2030 😞. The researchers argue that ecomaps can help close the gap by being:
💸 Affordable
🔍 Data-rich
🧠 Easy to use
♻️ Sustainable
🤝 Collaborative
Here’s how this innovative engineering method could expand:
🏫 Schools, airports, and hotels: Any large building can benefit from this method.
📲 App integration: Smartphone-based ecomap updates could let maintenance teams scan QR codes at the PoU.
📉 AI-powered risk analysis: Ecomap data could feed into models predicting bacterial hotspots.
💬 International adoption: Adaptable for both high- and low-resource settings with minimal tools.
The team encourages further research comparing their PoU-first method with the traditional PoE-first approach to prove cost-effectiveness and speed.
When it comes to hospital water safety, you can’t fix what you can’t see. This innovative engineering method using ecomaps shows us how mapping backwards—from tap to tank—may actually be the smartest path forward.
Let’s raise a (clean) glass to that! 🚰
Water Safety Plan (WSP) - A strategy to keep drinking water safe—by finding risks, fixing them, and preventing problems before they happen. 🧪 Think of it as a health checkup, but for your building’s water system!
Drinking Water Safety Plan (DWSP) - A special type of WSP that focuses only on water you drink, wash with, or use for food. 🚰 It's like the VIP section of the water system—strictly for human contact!
Sanitation Safety Plan (SSP) - A risk plan for where wastewater (like from toilets and sinks) goes and how to keep it from causing health issues. 🚽 Think of it as a safety net for everything that leaves the pipes.
Point of Entry (PoE) - The spot where water first enters a building’s system from the outside (like the main pipe). 🏠 It’s the front door of your water supply!
Point of Use (PoU) - The exact spot where water is used—like a tap, shower, or toilet. 🖐️ Basically, wherever people actually touch or use the water.
Ecomap - A colorful map that shows where water flows and gets used in a building, using symbols and codes. 🗺️ It’s like Google Maps—but for your hospital’s pipes and taps!
Pseudomonas aeruginosa - A bacteria that loves wet places (like hospital sinks) and can cause infections, especially in sick patients. 🦠 It’s a sneaky germ that thrives in plumbing if we’re not careful!
Legionella pneumophila - A dangerous bacteria that grows in warm, stagnant water and can cause serious lung infections (Legionnaires’ disease). 🌡️ It hides in warm pipes and strikes through airborne mist—like from showers.
Source: Kamm, L.; Hagen, R.M.; Mutters, N.T.; Schmithausen, R.M.; Weppler, R.; Döhla, M. Drinking Water and Sanitation Safety Planning for Medical Facilities: An Innovative PoU Approach for a Water System Description Using Ecomaps. Environments 2025, 12, 217. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12070217
From: University of Bonn; Bundeswehr Central Hospital Koblenz; Lower Saxonian State Health Authority.
