Water damage is £billion threat warns Vimpex.

20 May 2019

Risk management ‘must prepare for the worst’ is the latest stark warning from the UK Environment Agency, which suggests entire communities could be forced to move because of the risk of floods. With global temperatures set to rise by up to four degrees Centigrade by 2100, some £1bn a year might be needed to be spent on flood management.

 

Insurance statistics reveal that the most likely cause of claims in commercial buildings, retail premises, hotels and apartment blocks is water damage. UK insurers confirm that water leakage is now the costliest and most common claim made by commercial customers with a total loss in the UK alone approaching £800 million.

The financial sector is particularly vulnerable to such potential losses with Data Centre outages costing an average of £12,000 per minute, hourly losses on the Stock Exchange around £4.5 million and Credit Card Clearance around £1.8 million. Water leakage damage costs alone can be significant and it is not just the obvious cost of physical damage to IT equipment and the fabric of the building. Like fire damage, even a seemingly minor water leak can result in significant business interruption including temporary relocation, increased employment costs and loss of profits.

Vimpex, the UK’s leading independent manufacturer and distributor of Life Safety products, advises risk management that the efficient way to mitigate the risk of water damage is to continuously monitor for water leaks. Leading the way in Water Detection technology is the Vimpex Hydrosense system, the most sophisticated configurable water leak detection system on the market. 

Hydrosense systems deliver a new standard in Water Leak Detection and are designed to protect areas where water ingress could seriously damage electrical, communication and computer networks. It continuously monitors for water leaks around the clock, year in year out and has the facility for 72 hour battery standby in the event of power failure. Should a leak be detected the control panel sounds an alarm which can be extended to a remote location. When an alarm is raised, Vimpex Hydro-Cryer voice sounders can be used to broadcast an unambiguous message, avoiding confusion with other sounders on site.

Utilising life safety technology in the design of Hydrosense provides the reliability and integrity of BSi approved fire detection systems, meaning there is virtually no risk of failure, downtime and significantly fewer false alarms.