S 1.24 Avoidance of water pipes

Initiation responsibility: Head of Site Technical Services, Head of IT Section

Implementation responsibility: Site Technical Services

Water pipes of any type should be avoided in rooms or areas housing IT facilities with central functions (e.g. server). Where absolutely necessary, the only water-carrying lines installed should be coolant pipes, fire-fighting water pipes and heating pipes. Feeds to radiators should be fitted with shut-off valves - if possible, outside the room or area. These valves must be closed outside the heating period.

If water pipes cannot be avoided, precautions must be taken to ensure that any escape of water is detected as early as possible and that the negative consequences are minimised. Minimum protection can be provided by a water sump or drip pan installed under the pipeline, the drain of which leads outside the room. For this purpose, it is a good idea to use the corridor as then any pipe defects can be detected at an earlier time. An effective way of ensuring that leakages of water or leaking pipes are detected early is to paint ceilings a bright colour.

Another option is to install water detectors with automatic solenoid valves. These solenoid valves should be installed outside the room or area. To ensure that the valves also fulfil their protective function during a power failure, they must be closed at zero current.

Automatic drainage is recommended as an additional or alternative measure (see S 1.14 Automatic drainage).

All staff who work in IT and Site Technical Services should be informed that water pipes in parts of the building in which there are IT systems that have high availability requirements are a problem and what they should look out for.

Additional controls:

• Are any existing water pipes checked on a regular basis (visual inspection) to ensure that they are leakproof?