Point-of-use (POU) water disinfection isn't just about public health; it's also an essential engineering strategy in modern water systems, tackling waterborne diseases by ensuring safe drinking water directly at the point of consumption.
Plumbing & Mechanical and PM Engineer Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke sits down with Legionella expert Dr. Janet Stout, PhD, to discuss best practice strategies in the plumbing industry for implementing risk assessments and Water Management Programs.
In my January column, I began a series focused on chemical and non-chemical additives or technologies that I treat as “must consider” for plumbing engineers in their design practices to reduce the risk of legionella bacteria developing in the domestic water system.
Many of the topics I have discussed in my column to this point have been about temperature considerations within the supply and return system based on recommendations in the community and right-sizing domestic water piping to reduce the overall volume of water in the building’s piping system.
There’s no doubt the plumbing industry has had a hyper-focus on Legionella and prevention over the past few years. Yet a simple search on Google reveals outbreaks in an Illinois prison, a Hawaiian hotel and in Riverside County, California — all within the past two months.
Legionnaires’ disease, first identified in 1976, is caused by water contaminated with Legionella pneumophilia which, when disseminated in droplets into the atmosphere and inhaled, may infect a person.