Hospital-acquired Legionnaires’ disease usually originates in hospital water systems. Legionella bacteria not only persists in hot water tanks, it is often found in the biofilm through the entire hospital water system.
Legionella Control Association, in July 2005 the UK’s Code of Conduct Association changed its name to the Legionella Control Association or LCA as it it often referred.
Legionella is the genus of bacteria, which gives rise to the risk of infection from diseases, collectively known as legionellosis.
The UK’s Health & Safety Executives ACOP L8 recommends that routine testing for Legionella bacteria in wet cooling systems be carried out at least quarterly, and more frequently when a system is being commissioned, or if the bacteria has been identified on a previous occasion.
Dip slides are identified in the UK’s Health and Safety Executives Approved Code of Practice ACOP L8 which recommends their use for periodic microbiological monitoring of wet cooling systems including cooling towers.
In the UK the Health and Safety Executives ACOP L8 – Approved Code of Practice document titled “Legionnaires’ disease: The control of legionella bacteria in water systems” sets out guidance for legionella risk assessment procedures.
Chlorine dioxide is highly effective when used to clean and disinfect water systems. Water hygiene is concerned with the effective management and disinfection of water to prevent pathogen proliferation, especially in stored water systems.
The use of chlorine dioxide in cooling towers, closed loops and cooling systems greatly assists in the control of Legionella bacteria, algae, planktonic bacteria, biofilm and scale, helping to control the presence of dangerous bacteria and maintain the efficiency of heat exchanger surfaces, reservoir intakes, and ancillary equipment.
All legionella monitoring programmes for cooling water systems should include routine sampling and testing for the presence of bacteria, both general (aerobic) bacterial species and Legionella bacteria.
The UK’s Health & Safety Executive’s final report in to the events surrounding the Barrow outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in 2002.