Monitoring Building Water Systems to Prevent Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease

Legionellosis is a respiratory disease caused by a type of bacteria known as Legionella. It includes both Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever, which people can develop by breathing droplets of water from the air that are contaminated with the bacteria.
 
Legionella is naturally found in in freshwater environments, like lakes and streams. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it can become a health concern when it grows and spreads in man-made building water systems, such as:

• Showerheads and sink faucets
• Cooling towers
• Hot tubs
• Decorative fountains and water features
• Hot water tanks and heaters
• Large plumbing systems

This is why the CDC encourages water management programs in buildings that regularly monitor water quality parameters. Routine environmental sampling for Legionella (i.e., sampling that is performed proactively as part of an effort to reduce risk of Legionella growth and transmission in building water systems, not in the context of an outbreak investigation) is also a way to validate the efficacy of a water management program.
 
“Legionnaires’ disease is a serious, and potentially fatal, type of pneumonia, and 90% of CDC investigations have shown that the vast majority of past outbreaks were caused by problems preventable with more effective water management,” said Zahid Iqbal, MPH, CIH and Technical Director at Clark Seif Clark (CSC). “The rate of reported cases has been on the rise in recent years and grown by nearly 9 times since 2000. This is a significant reason why the CDC advocates for water management programs to help reduce exposure risks for building occupants.”
 
Dedicated to helping companies, hospitals, long-term care centers, correctional facilities and other institutions to develop, administer, monitor and test water management programs are the industrial hygiene and environmental professionals at Clark Seif Clark. Their services are also instrumental for identifying the source of an outbreak, if one has already occurred, to prevent further infections.
 
To disseminate information about Legionella and monitoring building water systems, CSC recently sponsored an educational video that can be seen at: https://youtu.be/F_Ggg_uaL_s
 
To learn more about water management programs or other environmental, occupational, indoor air quality (IAQ), building science, health and safety services, please visit www.csceng.com, email csc@csceng.com or call (800) 807-1118. 
 
About Clark Seif Clark
CSC was established in 1989 to help clients in both public and private sectors address indoor air quality, occupational, environmental, and health and safety (EH&S) issues. CSC is a leading provider of these services with multiple offices along the western seaboard and southwest. The company believes in science-based protocols and has a strong background in engineering, making them the preferred environmental consultants to industrial clients, healthcare facilities, architects, schools, builders, contractors, developers and real estate professionals.

Contact Information

Paul Cochrane

President

Cochrane & Associates, LLC

Contact via E-mail