Whats the best way of stopping your water supply getting infected with Legionnaires' disease or other dieseses.
Keep revolving the water?
Dont keep it standing for a period of time?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionellosis
Preventing Legionnaires' disease in your TEOTWAWKI water sup
-
Ian
Re: Preventing Legionnaires' disease in your TEOTWAWKI water
Legionella is not a problem in liquid water, only in inhaled droplets, mist from a cooling tower, fine spray in a shower, spray from a fire extinguisher. It is not really a problem with water stored for drinking or washing.
To reduce the possibilities:
1. Keep the water very clean. The bugs need something to eat. Or:
2. Keep the water cool or hot, below 20ºC or above 50ºC Or:
3. Pasturise the water above 65ºC for two minutes every fortnight (run your shower HOT). Or
4. Chemical biocide in the water, but you would probably not want to drink that.
And:
5. Avoid 'dead legs' in the water system so water is moved and consumed often, not stagnating.
The usual cause is mist from an industrial wet cooling tower. All such units are meant to be registered with the local authority and regularly treated and tested with those results being available to the authority. There are many companies which will come and regularly service the cooling towers on your behalf.
The problem comes with companies which do not know of their responsibilities (e.g. just employed a new Facilities Manager that worked previously in organisations that had closed air conditioning) or deliberately ignore them to save costs (they get fined very high amounts as it is easy to prove their culpability and which could now include Corporate Manslaughter charges if a death is involved)
To reduce the possibilities:
1. Keep the water very clean. The bugs need something to eat. Or:
2. Keep the water cool or hot, below 20ºC or above 50ºC Or:
3. Pasturise the water above 65ºC for two minutes every fortnight (run your shower HOT). Or
4. Chemical biocide in the water, but you would probably not want to drink that.
And:
5. Avoid 'dead legs' in the water system so water is moved and consumed often, not stagnating.
The usual cause is mist from an industrial wet cooling tower. All such units are meant to be registered with the local authority and regularly treated and tested with those results being available to the authority. There are many companies which will come and regularly service the cooling towers on your behalf.
The problem comes with companies which do not know of their responsibilities (e.g. just employed a new Facilities Manager that worked previously in organisations that had closed air conditioning) or deliberately ignore them to save costs (they get fined very high amounts as it is easy to prove their culpability and which could now include Corporate Manslaughter charges if a death is involved)
Re: Preventing Legionnaires' disease in your TEOTWAWKI water
We take such precautions very seriously where I work due to being involved in fatalities from legionnaire's several years ago. Our at risk water systems are all controlled by professional outside contractors with constantly monitored bromine dosing systems to kill off bacteria. We all get regular training on these issues, but as mentioned above it is usually industrial processes that might cause problems nowadays, except for shower heads. It is important that you regularly clear out shower heads of any water that might be sitting in them. If you have a spare room with an en-suite shower unit that rarely gets used for example, this is a disaster waiting to happen. We actually employ someone at work whose job it is to run the showers through with hot water once a week.
Standing water (particularly taps and small pipework) might develop legionaella bacteria in them given the right conditions (temperature, light etc), but it is unlikely to infect you through drinking it as the disease only takes hold through the lungs -> inhaled micro-droplets, not through ingestion. This does mean that fine spray through a hose that hasn't been used for a while is also a risk while watering your garden.
Standing water (particularly taps and small pipework) might develop legionaella bacteria in them given the right conditions (temperature, light etc), but it is unlikely to infect you through drinking it as the disease only takes hold through the lungs -> inhaled micro-droplets, not through ingestion. This does mean that fine spray through a hose that hasn't been used for a while is also a risk while watering your garden.
I'm in Area 7 !
-
tfish
Re: Preventing Legionnaires' disease in your TEOTWAWKI water
Moony wrote:If you have a spare room with an en-suite shower unit that rarely gets used for example, this is a disaster waiting to happen. We actually employ someone at work whose job it is to run the showers through with hot water once a week.
Fantastic tip. I was unaware of this.