Intro
What comes to mind when you hear the term Legionnaires’ Disease, or Legionella? Some rare disease that you’ll never catch? Anything at all? The truth is, many people know nothing about this disease or the bacteria that cause it. What’s worse, this harmful bacteria may be laying dormant right in your home.
What is Legionella (Bacteria)?
Before we answer that question, a quick history lesion. Legionella first came to light in July 1976 at a convention in Philadelphia, PA for American Legion Members. There, over 200 attendees staying at the same hotel came down with severe pneumonia-like symptoms. After extensive research, it was found that the water in that building was contaminated with the bacteria we now know as Legionella.
Legionella can grow in water systems in the plumbing of large multi-family buildings (consisting of hot water heaters, storage tanks, hot and cold water pipes), cooling towers, decorative fountains, hot tubs, and piping to other fixtures that call for hot and cold water supply. The perfect conditions to promote the growth of legionella bacteria when the water in these types of piping or units lay dormant for extended periods of time at 68 to 122 degrees farenheight. Legionella bacteria becomes harmful to you when it reaches your lungs through water droplets (plumes) or water vapor you inhale. This can occur through inhaling shower mists in a hot shower, when you turn on your faucet to wash your hands with hot water, etc. In other words, the pipes that bring drinking water to you, whether it be to your faucet in your kitchen, an office pantry, or even a public drinking fountain, may be home to the deadly bacteria that cause legionnaires disease.
Now that we know the bacteria, lets get into the disease
What is Legionnaires’ Disease?
In short, it is a type of infection which occurs when the legionella bacteria enters the lungs. It is most commonly contracted by inhaling the bacteria from water or soil. Older adults, smokers, and people with weakened immune systems are particularly susceptible to the disease.
Legionnaires’ disease usually incubates after two to ten days after exposure to the bacteria. Early signs and symptoms that will first pop up are headaches, muscle aches, and high fever. Later, symptoms such as cough (blood and/or mucuous), shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, confusion or other mental symptoms.
See a doctor right away if you believe you or a loved one has been exposed . Early detection can help shorten the recovery period, not to mention safe a life. Especially for high risk or elderly people, swift treatment is of the highest priority.
*CDC estimates 18,000 people a year are hospitalized with Legionnaires’ each year.
Why does this matter to you?
Legionnaires’ disease can be contracted by breathing in water vapor plumes much in the same way that COVID-19 can. Moreover, people deemed to be high risk for COVID-19 are also high risk for Legionnaires’. With the onset of this current pandemic, and keeping in mind that many buildings and homes are under or unoccupied at the moment, high temperature stagnant water is likely to exist. In other words, your building is using less hot and cold drinking water because there are less residents home right now, which could mean that your building is the perfect breeding ground for Legionella.
What can you do about safeguarding you and your loved ones from Legionella?
We highly recommend that residents in multifamily residential buildings or even single family homeowners test their water supply to determine if your water is legionella positive. If positive, you or your building owner must act immediately to put a water management program in place to eradicate the bacteria.
Owners should hire a consultant to determine the cause and provide a solution such as installing point of entry copper silver ionization UV system, frequent water potability analyses at all point of use water fixtures (faucets, showers, etc.), and constant flushing and balancing of the hot and cold water piping systems. Evergreen Mechanical offers point of entry copper silver ionization filtration systems to treat water and kill potential bacteria at the building source. We also offer point of use filtration installation, and water potability testing so you can stay in the know how about how safe your water is to drink. Contact us today for a free estimate.