Is Your School's Water System
Ready for Summer?
The summer break is the longest your school building will stand empty all year. For most things, that's fine. For your water system, it's the highest-risk period on the calendar.
Stagnant water, rising temperatures, and low usage are exactly the conditions that allow Legionella bacteria to develop. The good news is that with the right programme in place before the holidays, your school can go into summer confident — and come back in September without any nasty surprises.
This guide covers everything your school or college needs to have in order before the summer break, why it matters, and when each task needs to happen.
Why Long School Closures Create Water Hygiene Risk
Most schools are busy, well-maintained environments. Taps are used regularly, toilets are flushed, and the water system keeps moving. That regular usage is actually one of the things that keeps your water hygiene in check.
When your building empties for six or seven weeks, all of that changes.
Stagnation
Water that sits still in pipework is no longer being refreshed. In rarely-used areas, water may have been close to stagnant for months before the summer break even begins.
Temperature Rise
Legionella bacteria thrive between 20°C and 45°C. During a warm summer, water in pipework near external walls, roof spaces, or storage tanks can easily reach these levels.
Low-Use Outlets
Taps, showers, and drinking fountains with little use allow water to stagnate and warm. In a school closed for six weeks, virtually every outlet becomes a low-use outlet.
The summer break doesn't pause your legal obligations. It increases your risk.
Your Legal Obligations as a School or College
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002, schools and colleges have a legal duty to manage the risk from Legionella and other waterborne pathogens.
The HSE's Approved Code of Practice L8 and Technical Guidance HSG274 set out what that means in practice. Your school is required to:
Have a current, accurate Legionella risk assessment in place · Implement a written water management scheme based on that assessment · Carry out regular monitoring, including temperature checks and flushing programmes · Ensure TMV servicing and tank inspections are completed at required intervals · Keep records that demonstrate compliance, available for inspection
These obligations do not pause for the summer. If anything, the extended closure period makes it more important that the right actions are taken before the school empties — and immediately after it reopens.
The Pre-Summer Water Hygiene Checklist
Here is what needs to happen before your school or college closes for summer, and why each task matters.
Review Your Legionella Risk Assessment
Your risk assessment should reflect your building as it actually is right now — not as it was when the last assessment was carried out. If anything has changed in the past two years, it needs updating before it can be relied upon.
- Has any part of the building been repurposed, extended, or closed off?
- Has occupancy changed significantly?
- Have any new water outlets been added or removed?
- Is your risk assessment more than two years old?
Carry Out System Flushing
System flushing — running every outlet in the building to remove stagnant water — should be carried out before the building closes for summer and again when it reopens. Pre-closure flushing clears water that may have been sitting in low-use sections during term. Post-closure flushing removes water that has been sitting for the entire holiday period.
Critically, flushing only counts if it is documented. Records need to show which outlets were flushed, by whom, on what date, and the temperatures recorded.
Book TMV Servicing
Thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs) control the temperature of hot water at the point of use to prevent scalding — a critical safety requirement in schools where children are present. TMV servicing must be carried out in an unoccupied building, making school holidays the only practical window.
If you haven't had TMV servicing this academic year, summer is your last opportunity before September. Do not leave this until August. Summer slots at reputable contractors fill quickly.
Inspect and Clean Your Cold Water Storage Tanks
Cold water storage tanks should be inspected and cleaned annually. During a summer inspection, your contractor will check for signs of contamination, sediment, biofilm, or structural damage — all of which can compromise water quality. A tank that hasn't been inspected is a tank whose condition you don't know.
Tank inspections during the summer closure also benefit from the building being unoccupied — no disruption to lessons, and full access to plant rooms and roof spaces.
Check Your Monitoring Records
Before the summer break, review your water hygiene monitoring records for the academic year. Are there any gaps in temperature monitoring? Any remedial actions that were flagged but not completed? End of year is the right time to identify and close those gaps — not when an auditor arrives in the autumn.
Pre-Summer Checklist at a Glance
- Legionella risk assessment reviewed and current
- System flushing carried out and documented
- TMV servicing booked or completed
- Cold water storage tank inspection booked or completed
- Monitoring records reviewed and gaps closed
- Water sampling up to date
- Compliance records filed and accessible
When Your Building Reopens in September
The work doesn't stop when term ends. When your school reopens in September, the following should happen before pupils and staff return to full normal use:
September Return Actions
- Post-closure flushing of all outlets, starting with those that have been unused longest
- Temperature checks at sentinel points to confirm the system has returned to safe operating temperatures
- Inspection of any outlets that showed elevated temperatures or other concerns before closure
- Review of any remedial actions recommended during summer works
If your contractor carries out summer works — flushing, TMV servicing, tank inspections — they should provide you with a written report covering what was done, what was found, and any recommendations. Make sure you receive that report before September and that it is filed with your compliance records.
How Hydraclean Supports Schools and Colleges
Hydraclean works with schools, colleges, and multi-academy trusts across the UK, providing a full range of water hygiene services:
Real-time compliance records, always accessible. Our client app allows your facilities team to log flushing records and temperature checks in real time — so your compliance evidence is always up to date and ready if you need it.
Summer slots book quickly. If you haven't secured your place on the schedule, now is the time.
Get Your School Summer-Ready
If you manage water hygiene compliance for a school, college, or multi-academy trust and you're not yet confident that everything is in order, get in touch with Hydraclean today.