Each year in Australia, an average of 1800 children suffer scald burns requiring admission to hospital. Of these approximately one in five are due to exposure to hot tap water. The key risk group are children aged under three years. Childsafe NSW data indicate that a child has one chance in two hundred of being hospitalised for a scald before they turn five.
Older persons are also at risk of tap water scalds.
Monash University Accident Research data indicates that 300 Australians over 65 years of age are hospitalised by scalds each year. Scald burns can be severe, and in some cases life threatening. Most full thickness burns requiring grafting will result in scarring. With water at 65 degrees Celsius, such a burn requires less than a second of exposure, at 60 C around five seconds, at 55 C around thirty seconds. With water at 50 C a full thickness burn requires five minutes exposure.