June, 2017, Legionnaires’ disease in New York City has left one person dead and six others sickened, according to health officials. The New York City Health Department announced that seven cases of the disease were discovered on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The person who died from Legionnaires’ was elderly and had significant health problems. Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia that is caused from inhaling mist that is infected with the bacteria Legionella. The mist could come from a variety of places, including hot tubs, showers, decorative fountains or air-conditioning units for large buildings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes online that “less commonly, people can get Legionnaires’ disease by aspiration of drinking water,” which can happen when water “’goes down the wrong pipe,’ into the trachea (windpipe) and lungs instead of the digestive tract.” Symptoms of the disease include fever, cough, chills, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle aches, confusion and diarrhea, according to the health department. 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.
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 and 4 SI cartridges on their ice machines to help prevent the Legionella bacteria from forming in their water in compliance with ASHRAE 188. According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), one of the reasons that ASHRAE Standard 188:
Prevention of Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems is being developed to help prevent the high fatality rate for hospital patients that contract Legionella. This standard is designed to prevent the bacteria from entering and/ or reproducing in a hospital water system. The standard places responsibility for water safety on everyone associated with the design, construction, installation, ownership, operation, management, and maintenance of a building’s water system. The cold water dispensers of hospital ice machines have been proven to be a potential source of Legionella. Two studies, in 1985 and 1997, traced Legionella directly to the ice. ASHRAE Standard 188 requires that the HACCP plan include all potable water systems, including ice machines. If the potable water system, such as an ice machine, has “incoming potable water containing less than 0.5 mg/l residual halogen such as chlorine”, it is a risk factor for Legionella. Stout JE, Yu VL, Muraca P (1985). Isolation of Legionella pneumophila from the cold water of hospital ice machines: implications for origin and transmission of the organism. Infection Control, 6:141–146.
Pentair®/Everpure® have created cost-effective, application-specific filtration systems that will allow a hospital to keep its ice machines in compliance with ASHRAE Standard 188, and help provide critical protection from protozoan cysts and scale damage: the 4SI and 7SI Carbonless Water Filters from Pentair Everpure. These unique water filters provide a number of important benefits:
- Compliance with ASHRAE Standard 188, allows municipal chlorine and chloramine residual to pass through to the ice machine
- Slime/Bio Film Reduction, chlorine can help to reduce the growth of slime and bacteria inside the ice machine
- Cyst Reduction, submicron media reduces cysts such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia that can cause waterborne diseases in humans (reduction occurs by mechanical means*)
- Scale Protection, scale inhibitor reduces scale deposits that can cause downtime, maintenance calls and increased service costs. Scale can also result in the clogging of distribution lines, freeze-up on evaporator plates, and cause pumps, solenoids and probes to malfunction or fail.
- Particulate Reduction. Pentair’s proprietary Fibredyne™ media has superior dirt-holding capabilities versus conventional carbon block filters.
- Retrofits Everpure Brand Filter Heads. Quickly and easily convert Everpure Insurice®, 4/7CB5-S and 7FC-S Systems to 4SI or 7SI systems simply by swapping out the filter cartridges. There’s no need to remove an old filter head and invest in a new one, which saves you money and labor. The 4SI System Fits in Tight Spaces. Its space-saving size allows for easy placement behind a countertop ice machine or inside a cabinet.
- Easy to Install and Maintain
- Certified to NSF Standards 42 and 53.
- Carries the Pentair Everpure Name. Everpure has been providing water solutions for over 80 years, and is one of the most respected brands in water filtration worldwide.
For the complete Pentair Everpure Brochure on ASHRAE 188 Ice Machine Compliance Click here: ICE MACHINE COMPLIANCE WITH ASHRAE 188 PENTAIR. Contact us for more information on the 4SI or 7SI cartridge and how to stop Legionella at 800-942-7873 or contact us at info@filterpure.com.