Sunday, 26 June 2016: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Indoor Environment: Health, Comfort, Productivity
Chair:
Joshua Ince, P.Eng., Eldon Water Inc
Technical Committee: 03.06 Water Treatment
This session delves into understanding issues that are associated with recent and past outbreaks. It dispels popular myths of Legionella bacteria and Legionnaires' Disease, while introducing insights to aid system designers, facility managers and public health inspectors to collectively lower the risk of Legionella amplification within building water systems. Improved understanding of this disease's root causes will allow the usage of appropriate legislation that is effective in reducing human exposure to Legionella. The expert panel answers questions regarding lessons learned from first-hand outbreak investigation experience, issues with conflicting code requirements and actions required to minimize incidence of Legionnaires' disease.
1 Why Legionella Is a Problem in Building Water Systems: Keys to Prevention
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Janet Stout, Ph.D., Special Pathogens Laboratory
|
A short presentation on why Legionella is a problem in building water systems, from a microbiological point of view, and what specific actions prevent the bacteria from amplifying.
2 Lessons Learned from Potable Water Outbreak Investigations: Issues with Public Health and Plumbing Codes
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Tim Keane, Legionella Risk Management Inc. |
This presentation will review past outbreak situations and what the investigations revealed. Understanding how current plumbing codes and inspection/enforcement affects the success of controlling the problem.
3 Policy Consequences of Outbreaks: Who Got It Right?
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Sarah Ferrari, Evapco Inc |
A large outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx in 2015 prompted NYC to enact law and
NYS to propose emergency regulations on the registration and maintenance of cooling towers.
This paper describes the fundamental characteristics of airborne vs. waterborne outbreaks and
discusses the Bronx outbreak from those perspectives. Ultimately a case is made that these new
regulations will not have a measurable impact on reducing the incidence of Legionellosis.