How to Prevent Legionella in Commercial Water Systems

Did you know that roughly 50% of all commercial building water systems contain Legionella? Not all Legionella contamination is considered unsafe; however, under the right conditions, the bacteria can easily multiply and pose a serious risk to a building’s occupants. To keep potable water systems safe, commercial building owners and managers should operate under the assumption that a Legionella contamination can and will occur. Here, we’ll review how to prevent Legionella in commercial water systems.

Creating a Water Management Program

To prevent outbreaks, it’s important to understand how contamination originates. Legionella can enter a commercial building in a variety of ways. For example, this microorganism commonly infiltrates cooling towers before multiplying in potable water systems. However, water main breaks, changes in water quality, the development of biofilms, and water stagnation are also risk factors.

To combat outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease, the CDC recommends that all commercial buildings implement a Water Management Program (WMP). Comprehensive water safety plans should involve ongoing monitoring of at-risk water systems and well as remediation procedures if unsafe levels are detected.

R2J’s Comprehensive Water Safety Plans

As a leader in water treatment since 1982 with more than 150 years of combined experience, R2J can provide highly effective Legionella prevention strategies for commercial businesses. We use the Legionella Assessment and Management Plan Support (LAMPS®) cloud-based software solution to actively monitor Legionella levels and provide detailed reports. We have also established partnerships with CDC-Elite certified labs to quickly test water samples. And, we have extensive experience providing disinfection services for buildings with unsafe levels of Legionella.

For more information on how to prevent Legionella in commercial water systems, contact R2J today.