Legionella: The Silent Killer!

In the last year, over 400 people have been infected by a water born bacteria called Legionella.  Over 30 of those infected died. What’s more shocking than those numbers is the fact that those outbreaks took place in hospitals, retirement communities, theme parks, and hotels.   An estimated 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease each year in the U.S. How can so many people be infected by this bacteria, especially in places where you think you would be safe from any deadly bacteria? Being exposed to any water system can be a source of disease if the water in it is subjected to conditions that promote growth of the organism. 

 In Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, NY, multiple people developed Legionnaires disease; case investigation and environmental culture surveillance found that the Legionella bacteria came from the ice machine. One 66-year old patient, who was making a slow recovery from cancer, died from the outbreak due to inhalation of the aerosols released from the ice chips he was consuming. 

So how do you kill Legionella?

First, is preventing it! Killing the bacteria before it reaches any water system. Traditional oxidizing agents such as chlorine have been proven very effective in controlling Legionella. Using continuous chlorination at low free residual levels can be effective in controlling Legionella. That’s why many hospitals are using Everpure’s 7SI cartridges on their ice machines to help prevent the Legionella bacteria from forming in their water.

7SI Cartridge

• Specializes in slime and bacteria growth prevention
• Reduces particulates down to 0.5 micron
• Utilizes depth filtration and Fiberdyne™ media for superior dirt holding capability
• Leaves chlorine and chloramines within water that is supplied to equipment which helps to reduce slime and bacteria growth in applications
• Reduces system maintenance, service costs and buildup. Scale and slime, as well as, bacteria growth can result in clogging of distribution lines, malfunction of probes, floats, pumps, solenoids and valves, and higher energy consumption
• Sanitary cartridge replacement is simple, quick and clean. Internal filter parts are never exposed to handling or contamination
• Can be used on Insurice® and Hybrid Manifold Systems
• NSF® Certified under NSF / ANSI Standards 42 and 53

Features:

• Cyst Reduction
• Particulate Reduction
• Capacity: 25,000 gallons (94,635 liters)
• Maximum Flow: 3.5 gpm (13.25 lpm)
• Qty. per Case: 0
• Working Pressure: 10 – 125 psi (0.7 – 8.6 bar), non-shock
• Max. Temp: 35 – 100ºF (2 – 38ºC)
• H: 20.75″ D: 3.25″ Certifications: NSF42 NSF53