• Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
  • ENGINEERS
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
  • INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • CONTRACTORS
  • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
  • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
  • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • WATER TREATMENT
  • PMC COLUMNS
  • PMC COLUMNS
  • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
  • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
  • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
  • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
  • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
  • CONTINUING EDUCATION
  • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
  • FIRE PROTECTION
  • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
  • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
  • PME COLUMNS
  • PME COLUMNS
  • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
  • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
  • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
  • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
  • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
  • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
  • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
  • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
  • CODES
  • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
  • PROJECT PROFILES
  • COLUMNS
  • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • COLUMNS
  • Codes Corner
  • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
  • Guest Editorial
  • MEDIA
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
  • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
  • DIRECTORIES
  • EBOOKS
  • PM BOOKSTORE
  • CE CENTER
  • MARKET RESEARCH
  • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
  • EMAGAZINE
  • ARCHIVE ISSUES
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE
  • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • EBOOKS
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!
Plumbing NewsGreen Plumbing and MechanicalPlumbing & Mechanical Contractor

Digital Mixing: The solution for safe, consistent domestic water systems

Digital mixing supports consistent delivery of hot water on-demand wherever and whenever needed.

By Kolyn Marshall
Digital Mixing

A Powers IntelliStation stands guard over a hotel’s entire domestic hot water distribution system, assuring that delivery temps are consistent — at the set-temp — at all points of use.

Three way valve

The Powers IntelliStation touchscreen control operates a three-way valve through a high-speed actuator to precisely maintain the selected outlet temperature (+/- 2° F). Temperature and pressure sensors are included at key points within the panel to enable an immediate response to changes in mixed outlet temperature readings.

water temperature test

A facility engineer tests the water temperature at points of use in the hotel. An optional built-in pump provides recirculation of the tempered water loop, reducing the wait time at point-of-use fixtures and keeps water from stagnating to minimize the occurrence of bacteria and/or Legionella.

Service Technician

Service technicians dial-in distribution temperature settings for a Powers IntelliStation.

Service Technician 2

A service technician completes a Powers IntelliStation installation at a Marriott hotel.

 

Digital Mixing
Three way valve
water temperature test
Service Technician
Service Technician 2
May 12, 2021

Many older commercial facilities today, especially larger, multi-story facilities with plumbing and mechanical systems that may date back 10 or 20 years, have domestic water systems with a consistency problem. 

At hotels, the challenge tends to magnify by the number of guest rooms. That can be a substantial challenge for facility managers and maintenance staff because the range of problems with older domestic water systems often persist through all but one true solution: Digital mixing. 

Older domestic water systems were good; just not good enough. As those systems have aged, the “perfect storm” for facility managers and system engineers forms as users become less tolerant of long waits for hot water, inexact temperature deliveries (where, especially, scalding can become a risk), or where there’s greater awareness of the risks of legionella bacteria in systems with fewer protective measures in place.

It’s all too common for managers of hospitals, upscale hotels or luxury condos with four- and five-star ratings to admit they can’t assure customers they’ll have a warm shower when they want it. Or, have consistent temperature deliveries throughout the day. 


Airport hotel woes resolved

The director of engineering at a Marriott hotel near Kansas City, lamented the presence of stressful challenges with their domestic water pressure and temperature. 

According to the engineer there, late arrivers and early risers often pushed the limits of a hotel’s water heaters and plumbing systems. At this 380-some-room hotel near a busy airport, there’s a steady flow of guests at all hours. 

“The highest demand for hot water comes between five and 6 a.m. and again between 10 p.m. and midnight,” he says. It wasn’t uncommon for hotel managers to get several calls a week from guests, displeased about the lack of hot water. 

“Unfortunately,” he adds, “The best we could tell them at the time was that hot water ‘was on its way.’”

For more than two years, the hotel battled domestic hot water issues. As it turns out, a large hydronic valve was used for the original system. The misapplied valve had a 120-second response time and couldn’t actuate quickly to keep up with the changing water pressures present within the hotel. 
Because of the valve’s sluggish response time, every time something would go wrong with the pumps, heat exchangers or storage tanks, the entire domestic hot water system would require a time-consuming recalibration. Maintenance was required routinely — a constant source of disruption for the engineering staff. 

“More or less, when maintaining the domestic water system, we had to isolate the entire piped network, shutting it down completely,” he continues. “Whenever the hot water mixing valve opened or modulated, the entire system would flood with cold water.”


Enough is enough

Two years ago, facility managers and engineers decided to replace the entire hot water system. The engineering professional called on a local plumbing and mechanical installation firm specializing in commercial and industrial work. 

“The owner of the company and I had this discussion about the hotel’s domestic water system,” the facility engineer says. “A key challenge was the presence of so many dynamic changes with the pumps and water pressures. We knew what the hotel needed was a smarter, more responsive valve — especially considering that the guests in all of the hundreds of rooms had very different schedules.” 

Months earlier, the owner of the mechanical contracting firm had learned about a digital mixing valve made by Powers, a Watts brand. 

“They make a smart delivery solution for mixing domestic water in a hot water recirculation loop,” the company owner explains. “It’s called IntelliStation. Shortly after learning about them from our rep, we installed one at a large hotel on the other side of town. There, we exceeded the expectations of facility managers — a strong confirmation that the technology worked well.” 

The digital mixing solution features an intuitive, touch screen display. IntelliStation’s modular construction also makes repair and maintenance quick and easy. 

Yet, to be sure, the contracting firm’s owner asked the hotel’s facility managers to visit another hotel that had similar hot water issues. There, they’d installed an IntelliStation digital mixing system, allowing the Marriott facility engineer to see it in operation and speak to facility managers who eagerly vouched for the system. 

What he learned was that the hotel, which had experienced similar hot water issues, now had a fast-responding, safe and clean domestic hot water system that delivered hot water on demand.

“After hearing maintenance managers validate the technology — testifying that it only took seconds for hot water to get to taps — I was sold,” the Marriott facility’s manager says. 

Digital water mixing represents a significant leap in the technology used to control hot water delivery. The approach incorporates a programmable valve to quickly process temperature (mixed outlet +/-2° F to set point), flow and pressure data, which is obtained from the hot and cold water inlets, mixed outlet and sensors on the mixed-water return. High-speed, responsive electronic actuation modulates a simple valve that allows the setpoint to be electronically controlled and maintained. An integral recirculation pump can be programmed to turn on/off to a target set point and temperature variance. 

Digital mixing allows engineers or facility managers to select a desired hot water temperature and to control and monitor entire water distribution systems.

 



LARGE DOMESTIC WATER SYSTEM RISKS 


Legionella

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, proper maintenance of water distribution systems is key to preventing illness from water-borne bacteria such as Legionella. CDC statistics show that 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease in the U.S. each year. Managers of commercial and institutional facilities know that selecting and controlling proper water temperature in their storage and delivery systems plays an important part in preventing germ growth. 

Legionella Chart


Scalding

Uncontrolled and unmonitored water distribution systems can create high-temperature scalding hazards in bathtubs, sinks and showers. Digital mixing systems make it easy to select and maintain safe water temperatures for large domestic water systems. 


Thermal Shock

The thermal shock of a rapid and uncomfortable change in shower water temperature can cause a fall or serious injury. With digital mixing, stable mixed water is delivered to ASSE-listed thermostatic point-of-use devices (shower or sink valves) to minimize this risk.

KEYWORDS: digital mixing domestic hot water scald prevention

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Kolyn Marshall is systems engineering manager for Watts.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Worker using the Milwaukee Tool SWITCH PACK drain cleaner

    Pipeline profits: Drain cleaning, pipe inspection create opportunities

    Drain cleaning and inspection services offer lucrative...
    Green Plumbing and Mechanical
    By: Nicole Krawcke
  • Uponor employee, Arturo Moreno

    The reinvestment in American manufacturing and training

    Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke and...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke and Natalie Forster
  • March 2024 Women in Plumbing hero image of woman engineer overlayed by circle of hexagon shapes with numbers from 1 to 10

    Celebrating 10 Influential Women in the Plumbing Industry

    Celebrating Women's History Month and Women in...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
Subscribe For Free!
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine
  • Manage My Preferences

NIBCO Press Solutions

NIBCO Press Solutions

Bell & Gossett Illustrates Path to Net-zero at AHR Expo

Bell & Gossett Illustrates Path to Net-zero at AHR Expo

IPEX celebrates grand opening of new Florida distribution center

IPEX celebrates grand opening of new Florida distribution center

AI can boost efficiency and profitability for plumbing, HVAC contractors

AI can boost efficiency and profitability for plumbing, HVAC contractors

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Plumbing & Mechanical audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Plumbing & Mechanical or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • J.J. Keller CMV vehicles on road
    Sponsored byJ. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

    The dash cam game-changer for small business safety

Popular Stories

Rovanco fire.jpg

Fire breaks out at Rovanco Piping Systems' Joliet manufacturing facility

Underfloor heating installation with drain sewer hole in bathroom close up on water floor heating.

Using hydronics to leverage time-of-use electrical rates

Close-up of a man holding a blue helmet. Construction worker with office and people in background. Close-up of a construction worker's hand holding a working helmet.

Enhancing workplace safety through challenges

PMCE Home-X April 29 Free Webinar: From Legacy to Leadership: Preparing Your Home Services Business for the Next Generation

Events

November 13, 2024

Future Proofing MEP: Navigating the 2026 High Efficiency Water Heating Standards

Join our deep dive into DOE’s new standards so you can future-proof your MEP practice.

EARN: 0.1 ASPE CEU; 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 PDH

May 15, 2025

From Legacy to Leadership: Preparing Your Home Services Business for the Next Generation

Whether you're passing the torch to a family member or grooming current employees for leadership, preparing the next generation of leaders is key.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Will business be up or down in 2025?

Do you anticipate business in 2025 to be up or down in comparison to 2024?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

The Water Came To A Stop

The Water Came To A Stop

See More Products

Download the FREE Water Conservation, Quality & Safety eBook: Plumbing Trends Increasing Safe Water Availability

Related Articles

  • Powers digital water mixing/recirculation system

    Powers digital water mixing/recirculation system

    See More
  • digital mixing valves

    Feature-packed digital mixing valves

    See More
  • Bradley Corp. Digital mixing valve

    Bradley Corp. Digital mixing valve

    See More
×
A Powers IntelliStation stands guard over a hotel’s entire domestic hot water distribution system, assuring that delivery temps are consistent — at the set-temp — at all points of use.
The Powers IntelliStation touchscreen control operates a three-way valve through a high-speed actuator to precisely maintain the selected outlet temperature (+/- 2° F). Temperature and pressure sensors are included at key points within the panel to enable an immediate response to changes in mixed outlet temperature readings.
A facility engineer tests the water temperature at points of use in the hotel. An optional built-in pump provides recirculation of the tempered water loop, reducing the wait time at point-of-use fixtures and keeps water from stagnating to minimize the occurrence of bacteria and/or Legionella.
Service technicians dial-in distribution temperature settings for a Powers IntelliStation.
A service technician completes a Powers IntelliStation installation at a Marriott hotel.  

Keep your content unclogged with our newsletters!

Stay in the know on the latest plumbing & piping industry trends.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
    • Supply House Times
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • EBOOKS
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!