Facilities without proper piping documentation put their people, operations, and profit at risk. This rings true especially in food processing plants, which risk product contamination, recalls, and reputational damage. The not-so-secret secret is to act before the incident finds you. Don’t wait for the contamination event. Gather intelligence about your facility’s system, correct hazards, and stay on top of your systems.
Hiding in Plain Sight: How Outdated Piping Schematics Jeopardize Food Processing Safety
The Risks of Unsafe Piping Systems
Where the pipes go, what they carry, and where they connect shouldn’t be a mystery to food processing facility managers. When you don’t know, you risk:
- Harm to people and product
- Legal liability
- Production downtime and lost revenue
- Damage to brand reputation
- Regulatory penalties
When Production Halts
A food processing and packaging facility came face to face with the reality of incomplete piping system knowledge and ineffective cross-connection control when routine water testing revealed non-compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This failure forced the facility to halt production for three days while the source of contamination was identified and remedied.
Because previous internal modifications weren’t properly documented, the facility was limited by critical knowledge gaps and had no immediate remedy to return to compliant status and resume production. Every minute of downtime meant significant revenue loss.
So, the plant called HydroCorp for support. Our team subsequently identified:
- A water softener plumbed directly into drainage pipes
- A fire sprinkler line directly connected to the potable water supply
- Several missing backflow preventers at key interconnections
The thorough on-site survey conducted by HydroCorp identified these unprotected cross-connections and provided clear, immediate next steps to get the plant up and running. In the long term, HydroCorp developed comprehensive piping schematics along with a report detailing recommended corrective actions and priorities.
Now, the plant is in full compliance with SDWA requirements and conducts regular surveys to maintain up-to-date documentation and ensure no new cross-connections have been created.
How Do Schematics Help Protect Food Processing Plants?
When we think about water and its role in food processing plants, the key differentiator is simple: water isn’t just part of the process, it’s part of the product. That means contamination carries unique risks.
Piping schematics play a serious role in avoiding that contamination—but the benefits don’t stop there. Not only does a full-scale, detailed view of pipes mean you can catch at-risk areas (like unprotected cross-connections and areas with stagnant water) before they cause big problems, but they improve everything from operational efficiency to audit readiness.
With reliable schematics, food processing plants see a tangible return through:
- Optimized emergency response
- Reduced contractor guesswork (AKA fewer contractor hours)
- Streamlined maintenance activities
- Record of health and safety efforts
- Employee and public confidence in water quality
System Intelligence
If we consider piping surveys and schematics development an intelligence-gathering mission, the question follows: What do we do with that intelligence? Piping schematics can and should be used to navigate the systems. When every point of interconnection and every valve is documented and referenceable, you can easily identify leaks, stagnant water, and costly problems before they lead to contamination, downtime, and non-compliance.
5 Steps to Safe, Compliant Piping Systems
- Survey your facility’s entire piping system(s)
The best way to survey your piping systems? Getting boots on the ground to visually trace each pipe, going top to bottom and identifying every valve, interconnection, and point of use. The survey should provide a full look at where all the lines go, the methods of plumbing used, and an analysis of backflow preventers and air gaps.
Often, facilities find it useful to enlist the help of a third party—an independent “set of eyes,” so to speak. Facility managers work in their facility environment day in and day out; it can be easy to overlook things often swiftly caught by other eyes.
- Finalize, distribute, and apply your piping schematics
Once visual tracing is complete, surveyors convert their in-field drawings into CAD (computer-aided design) files that can be printed and accessed digitally. The critical point: Make sure all appropriate teams have access to the files and know how to use them. Schematics shouldn’t sit in a binder on a high shelf where no one remembers them—they should be used to navigate the pipes for operations, maintenance, renovations and planning, and emergency response.
- Correct deficiencies
After the initial survey, it’s time to take action. Where unprotected cross-connections were identified, install the proper backflow preventer. Where dead legs were discovered, remove and re-plumb. Prioritize these corrections based on the risk associated with each deficiency. Not only will this make your facility compliant, but it allows you to get ahead of problems before contamination.
- Train staff on protocols
Again, schematics aren’t meant to collect dust. They’re meant to be used. When schematics are created and updated, inform staff. Train various team members—across operations, facility management and maintenance, and more—to use piping schematics in their daily processes. Give them the tool, then equip them with how to use it.
- Conduct periodic surveys
Your facility changes, and so do your piping systems. With modifications and renovations happening all the time, the best way to stay informed and up to date is to conduct periodic surveys. These can catch any inadvertent cross-connections and make sure your schematics stay reliable and useful.
Set your facility up for continued success by investing in knowledge of your piping systems and taking proactive steps to prevent contamination rather than reacting to it.
Ready to learn more about how HydroCorp can support your facility with on-site surveys, piping schematics development, and more?
