T 1.5 Water

The uncontrolled flow of water into buildings or rooms can be caused by the following, for example:

• Rain, high water, flooding,
• Disruptions to the water supply or sewer system,
• Defects in the heating system,
• Defects in air conditioning systems connected to a water supply,
• Defects in sprinkler systems,
• Extinguishing water used to fight a fire,
• Sabotage using water, for example by turning on the water taps and blocking the drains.

Regardless of how the water enters a building or room, there is a danger that it will damage the supply systems or IT components or put them completely out of operation (short-circuits, mechanical damage, rust, etc.). If central building supply system equipment (main distributors for the electrical, telephone, or data systems) is installed in rooms in the basement not equipped with automatic water drainage equipment, then water entering these rooms can cause large amounts of damage.

Examples:

• Many businesses, even large companies, do not take the danger of flooding seriously enough. For example, one company was "surprised" several times by flood damage to their computer centre. The computer centre was literally washed away twice within 14 months. The resulting damage was estimated to be several hundred thousand euros and was not covered by insurance.
• In a server room, a water pipe was routed under the ceiling and then enclosed with plasterboard. A leak arose in one of the water pipe connections, but the leak was not detected promptly. -The water that escaped formed a pool at the lowest point of the plasterboard enclosure first before it escaped from there, causing a short-circuit in a power distributor located beneath it. -The result was that both the water and the power supply of the affected part of the building had to be switched off completely until the repair work was finished.