Control of legionella
Recommendations:
It is recommended that water storage tanks are sterilised annually as a minimum and to include the following areas:
• Water Storage (CWS Tanks)
• Cooling Towers
• Condensers
• Calorifiers
• Hot/Cold Water Systems (especially with Shower heads)
To avoid contamination, bacterial proliferations and Legionella outbreaks, you must keep tanks along with their associated systems in good clean working order. Tanks which have high levels of bacteria or have had a previous outbreak of Legionella are considered as high risk.
CLS performs a sterilisation service on all areas listed above which includes bacteriological sampling on the associated water before and after sterilisation to confirm efficiency of the process. All completed works are issued with a Certificate of Sterilisation and the systems are badged to indicate the process in complete.
Getting Started:
A preliminary site inspection is carried out by CLS; this gives the specialist an opportunity to plan for the sterilisation procedure and make provisions for any extra preparation work required.
At this point it can be established what perimeter pipes and water networks are involved such as hydrants, feeder tanks and lags that may be prone to stagnation and increase the risk. CLS then estimate the amount of time the sterilisation will take, the required dosage and volumes involved.
Legionella Sampling and Analysis:
Complete Lab Solutions are fully INAB accredited to test for Legionella including detection and enumeration of Legionella spp. and Legionella pneumophila Serogroups 1 and 2-14.
Based locally in Galway, we have the advantage of testing in our state of the art labs, providing our customers with peace of mind through full chain of custody from our trained samplers and national fleet of van transport to highly trained analytical scientists and our bespoke LIMS sample management system.
Certification and Validation of the process:
Water samples are taken before and after the procedure and are microbiologically tested in our accredited laboratories.
If the procedure has been a success there should be an acceptable reduction in the total viable count (TVC’s), it should be pathogen free and is now ready for use. A certification of completion is then issued.