Hospitals and healthcare
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Keeping bacteria out: when to specify anti-legionella valves
Keeping water systems safe and avoiding the potential for outbreaks of Legionnaires disease is a priority – both in domestic and commercial environments. By specifying for safety, systems can be designed to minimise the conditions which are conducive to bacteria growth. Preventative measures such as anti-legionella valves can also play an important role, as Eric Winter, RWC’s EMEA director of product development (valves), explains.
E
very day, the average person in the UK uses 142 litres of water for everything from showering and brushing their teeth through
to drinking and washing up. Even indirectly, such as through wet air conditioning units in commercial environments, water plays an integral role in day-to-day life and is essential to our health and wellbeing. At all of these points of use, however, people could be susceptible to contracting infections such as Legionnaires’ disease – if water systems are not designed or maintained properly. As an illness which impacts the lungs, Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia which can be contracted when inhaling small water droplets from a contaminated source. In the UK, there are hundreds of cases every year, with early symptoms including tiredness, headaches, and fever, but those infected may also experience coughing, diffi culty breathing and chest pain. While fewer than 10% of worldwide cases are fatal, the
disease can lead to hospitalisation where patients require antibiotics, oxygen, or support breathing. While domestic premises are not immune to the potential of a Legionnaires’, commercial
environments are more susceptible to an outbreak and could benefi t from the specifi cation of anti- legionella valves. From gyms and offi ce buildings through to schools, care homes and hospitals, legionella – the bacteria which causes Legionnaires’ disease – can pose a genuine risk to the health of occupants. But, by designing systems that make it diffi cult for Legionella to breed, those in control of premises can keep water safe for occupants.
Legionella, its causes, and common breading grounds
Thriving in stagnant water and at temperatures between 20 and 45oC, legionella can build up in water systems, particularly those which have remained underused or stagnant for a prolonged period of time. Because of this, people tend to be most conscious of the potential presence of legionella when turning on the taps in properties which have been unoccupied for some time. Legionella can also build up in systems which are
poorly designed, with one of the biggest dangers stemming from ‘dead legs’ within the pipework – the runs of pipe that are either no longer in use or which have become isolated from the regular fl ow of water. Elsewhere, bacteria can grow in cooling towers, humidifi ers, hot water systems, room-air
20 May 2023
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