For those Facilities carrying out Legionella testing on potable water systems, please consider the following suggestions in your quest to be compliant. We should not take the sampling approach lightly, with the lone objective to check the box that confirms samples were drawn. Rather, please think carefully about your building’s piping infrastructure, and develop a true strategy. When you plan a sampling event around the most probable places for hide-out, chances of detection improve exponentially. Use prior testing as a guide, establish where there might there be low-flow, low-use zones, dead legs (to be corrected), and even rooms/spaces that have been sitting vacant for an extended period. We are reminded in the news every day that the water samples tested are aimed at preventing disease, and that is the greater objective.
Written by:
John D. Caloritis, CWT
Technology Director
The Metro Group, Inc.
John is Chair of the AWT (Association of Water Technologies) Cooling Water Committee and a Member of the Association’s Legionella Task Force.
