Hot water expectations in Hall of Residence?

[applesnbananas]

Son is in first year uni, in Halls. His hall is divided into corridors and flats which each share a bathroom and kitchen. His flat is tucked in an annex on the third floor and only has 3 occupied rooms. He recently told me that their 'hot' water is usually only very luke warm, i.e. only very occasionally and randomly being warm enough to have a decent hot shower. He said his flatmate(s) have previously reported it but it wasn't fixed so they've just been living with it. He thinks other parts of the hall do have constant hot water. I've obviously encouraged him to report it again, but what are reasonable expectations for hot water? Aibu to think it should be permanently hot, not just intermittently?

(For context, the reason he mentioned it now is because we'd been trying to work out why he's had 3 stomach bugs in the last few weeks - we now suspect it's at least partly to do with not being able to wash hands/dishes in hot water.)

In a building like that there is a legal requirement for hot water to be 50oc to control legionella. I would def report as no doubt he pays a fortune for this accommodation.

Absolutely this is a safety issue.

Perhaps it might help to buy a thermometer so he can go in with hard data. I think this would help my YP have these difficult conversations. Encourage him that not everything gets sorted at the first time of asking. Going back and pushing for what you need is all part of the process.

Encourage him to use kettles for washing up water in the meantime.

Yes he must keep complaining! I bet he / you are paying upwards of 150 a week as well… this shouldn’t happen

Yes, report it again and say you'll be contacting local authority and environmental health if nothing gets done. Also speak to the students union, and also student well-being team at the uni, who often have people that will help with negotiating with accommodation providers.

Well, he should keep reporting until his shower runs hot.

least partly to do with not being able to wash hands/dishes in hot water.
But he is a bit unreasonable for not just boiling water to do his dishes. That's on him.

Thanks for all the responses. I helped him to find the right way to report it via yet another app and a maze of multi-choice questions which, correctly answered, gave it high priority. A maintenance person arrived after a few hours. He turned on all the taps to full and a significant amount of trapped air gurgled its way out of the system. The water is now hot. Hopefully it won't happen again but, if it does, at least they'll know what to do about it. Another lesson learned! It's just frustrating that he put up with it for so long.

Agree with PPs. But it’s not making a difference to the effectiveness of his hand washing - no one is washing their hands in water hot enough to kill germs anyway. It’s the soap that is important.

Agree with @ShesTheAlbatross

Good on DS for persisting, and you for helping him. He absolutely deserves hot water! But it’s been proven that for most practical purposes we eliminate germs by washing them away. Soap, water and friction do the job.

Well having spent the last 19 years encouraging him to wash his hands properly I doubt there was much soap or friction either.😁 All I know is that, before going to uni the last tummy upset he had was so far back I can't remember - probably as a toddler - yet in the last 4 weeks he's had 3. First one was just vomiting (V), second was V&D, third one (current) is mostly D. We've been trying to pin down a cause.

Either way, he now has hot water, so at least he can have a decent shower.

Looking forward to getting him back for Christmas so we can try and get him fully fit!

Almost certainly the accommodation manager will be required to carry out a regular Legionnaires Risk Assessment. (Annually?) Ask to see it. Explaining that you/DS are concerned that the tepid water is a cause of his repeated illness. Copy it to a student safeguarding officer if you can find one.

I assume that the "hot" water is coming from a tank rather than through a combi boiler/Ascot heater type arrangement. Ask for confirmation that the Risk Assessment covered this water source.

And as others suggested, use freshly boiled water from a kettle for washing up. However if the water in the tank is not hot enough to kill bugs, you should be note that Legionaries is airborne (ie minute water droplets breathed in), but obviously is not the only bug that could be festering. Over time hot water tanks tend to fill with gunk.