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Legionella Monitoring

As part of a comprehensive water management program, facility managers must regularly monitor for conditions that can produce legionella bacteria. This bacteria thrives in stagnant water and warm temperatures and may cause a severe form of pneumonia when inhaled or ingested. It’s vital that facilities monitor water flow and quality to minimize hazardous conditions that can lead to legionella growth and put tenants at risk of serious infection.

Legionella

What Is Legionella?

Legionella is a bacteria that can cause legionellosis (Legionnaires’ disease), a severe form of pneumonia, when inhaled or ingested. According to the Mayo Clinic, Legionnaires’ disease causes inflammation of the lungs. It can also cause infections in wounds and other parts of the body, including the heart, which may be fatal.

Why Monitoring For Legionella Is Important

Compromised Water Quality & Health Hazard: Building water systems continue to be the leading source of legionella bacteria, due to water stagnation and warm temperatures. Because legionella can grow and multiply quickly in potable water systems and survive chlorine treatment in utility water treatment plants, it’s crucial that facilities managers invest in consistent testing and treatment solutions.

Legal Responsibility: In most states, building owners and facilities managers have a legal obligation to assess and control the risk of exposure to legionella bacteria. They must ensure their water system is monitored and tested accordingly to prevent legionella outbreaks.

Creating a Water Management Program

Facilities managers are encouraged to create a water management program to monitor water flow and quality routinely. The program is designed to help minimize hazardous conditions that can lead to legionella growth, especially stagnant water. Because disinfectants can dissipate quickly from stagnant water, the opportunity for biofilm bacteria and potential pathogen growth, like legionella, increases substantially. This toolkit from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides more information on developing a water management program to reduce legionella growth and spread.

Internal Building Factors That Can Lead to Legionella Growth

  • Scale and Sediment: Materials that use up disinfectant, creating ideal conditions for legionella and other bacteria growth.
  • Biofilm: A biological community of bacteria that grow on moist surfaces and can protect legionella from disinfectant and heat.
  • Water Temperature Fluctuation: Fluctuating water temperature can put your system at higher risk of bacteria growth.
  • Insufficient or Excess Disinfectant: Too much or not enough disinfectant can compromise water quality and allow bacteria to grow out of control.
  • Water Stagnation: Reduced water use and building occupancy often results in water stagnation or standing water. This lowers disinfect levels, promotes biofilm growth and reduces temperature, resulting in unsafe water quality.
  • pH Level: Testing pH levels is important to understand the effectiveness of your disinfectant. Normal pH levels should measure between 6.5 and 8.5.

External Building Factors That Can Lead to Legionella Growth

  • Water Quality Changes: Water quality changes can lower disinfectant levels, increase sediment and turbidity and cause unbalanced pH levels. As disinfect levels change, water management programs should be reassessed.
  • Construction: Changes in water pressure or vibration from a construction site can displace biofilm, allowing legionella to permeate the water in your building.
  • Water Main Breaks: If a water main breaks, biofilm can dislodge from the pressure and free legionella into the water. Additionally, sediment, dirt and other materials can enter the water and use up disinfectant more quickly.

Solution Areas

  • Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC)
  • Water Services & Plumbing

Flow Metering Solutions

Flow meters are needed to measure areas of low or no flow, which can create ideal conditions for legionella growth and lead to contamination that spreads throughout your system. Below are our top solution recommendations:
TFX-5000

Clamp-on Meters

Clamp-on meters are a suitable choice for flow measurement throughout your system because service is never interrupted, making them especially ideal for retrofit applications. Meters simply clamp on to the exterior of a pipe and do not require a plumber for installation. A single person can easily install clamp-on meters, including the Dynasonics® TFX-5000 Ultrasonic clamp-on flow meter and the Dynasonics® TFX-500w Ultrasonic clamp-on flow meter.

Inline Meters Family

In-Line Meters

In-line meters are another great option for flow measurement. They require cutting the pipe for installation and provide reliable performance in facility water management systems, measuring low flow rates and improving accuracy. In-line meters are the go-to choice for new installations, during scheduled maintenance activities and in situations where pipes are oversized. The ModMAG® M2000 Electromagnetic flow meter, Dynasonics® U500w Ultrasonic flow meter, Recordall® Industrial Disc Series flow meters and Recordall® Industrial Turbo Series flow meters are all suitable options in monitoring flow within your facility.

AquaCUE

AquaCUE® Flow Measurement Manager

In addition to connecting flow meters to your facility water management system, you can also connect meters to AquaCUE® Flow Measurement Manager. Using cellular network infrastructure, this cloud-based analytics system delivers a powerful dashboard solution to provide facilities with increased visibility and help better manage their water use.

Water Quality Solutions

Water quality monitoring products play an important role in identifying if water conditions are suitable for legionella growth. Solutions from Badger Meter measure the food available for legionella bacteria and indicate if the water chemistry is right for the bacteria to thrive.
MetriNet

MetriNet Multiparameter Water Quality Monitor

The MetriNet Multiparameter Water Quality Monitor is a low-power, modular system for monitoring water quality and collecting data at remote locations. At the heart of the MetriNet system are M-Nodes smart sensors.

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SiteBox

SiteBox Portable Water Quality Monitor

SiteBox is a portable solution for water quality monitoring, control, and management. Suitable for various utility and industrial applications, this ready-to-use system comes in a compact, carry-on-sized case for immediate, hassle-free deployment.

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nano:;station

nano::station Monitoring Station

The fully modular nanostation combines instruments to a super-compact and versatile system. It's a complete solution. Simply plug-in & measure to receive immediate available information and parameters.

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