AseptiFlow carries a global patent and trademark and is manufactured from 100% recyclable copper with an end-of-life return to supplier policy. Mueller Europe Limited is a UK-based copper manufacturer headquartered in Bilston, West Midlands, and is part of the global Mueller Industries Group.
The business operates two established copper brands, Yorkshire Copper Tube and Wednesbury Tube, supplying the heating, ventilation, plumbing and construction markets. As the only copper manufacturer in the UK with an on-site refinery, Mueller Europe is transitioning to a recycled scrap copper process, reflecting a sustained commitment to circular manufacturing and carbon reduction in line with science-based targets aligned.
In 2026, Mueller Europe established its Healthcare and Life Sciences division, marking a deliberate strategic move to address one of the most pressing threats in modern medicine: the transmission of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria (GNB) in clinical and care environments.
The division’s flagship product, AseptiFlow, was invented by Dr James Soothill MBBS, MD, FRCPath, a consultant microbiologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
AseptiFlow is a passive mechanical device, constructed from a single piece of high-grade 35mm copper tube, that integrates directly into sink and drain wastewater systems as a standard plumbing component. No chemicals, power source or maintenance are required. The device operates by redirecting water flow through a specifically engineered path, eliminating direct splash-back and aerosol transmission from the U-bend trap to the sink outlet, a recognised transmission route for GNB including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The clinical evidence base is peer-reviewed and robust. A blinded, randomised and ongoing controlled trial published in the Journal of Hospital Infection in 2025 demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in target gram-negative bacterial counts at sink outlets in AseptiFlow-fitted plumbing compared to standard controls).
The WHO has identified antimicrobial resistance, and gram-negative pathogens in particular, as one of the gravest threats to global public health, with hospital sinks and drains confirmed as key environmental reservoirs.
AseptiFlow is available in different sizes and is suited to retrofit, refurbishment and new build projects. With infection control central to the design principles of the UK Government’s New Hospital Programme and its Hospital 2.0 Alliance, AseptiFlow is ideally placed for specification across the 41 hospital schemes currently in the delivery pipeline through to 2045-46.