Legionella experts urge holiday companies to double up on flushing regimes
Staffordshire-based Legionnaires’ Disease experts SAS Water Ltd is advising hotels, holiday parks and spas to ensure water safety is a priority as the new Covid-19 lockdown and the start of winter causes closures.
Working with a luxury lodge park in East Anglia, SAS Water’s legionella consultants have doubled flushing regimes for the park’s lodges, along with strict testing and chlorination routines for the 100 hot tubs on site.
Lizzie Ward, Manging Director of SAS Water, said: “Problems occurred across the UK during the first lockdown as water was left to stagnate in pipes. There’s been cases involving offices, schools and hospitals discovered following the lifting of lockdown this summer. Now we are entering “lockdown 2” and the onus is on building facility managers to guard against legionella growth. The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering states that legionella bacteria can incubate in as little as 2-10 days, meaning that those who let their maintenance and disinfection regime slip, could soon be at risk. One simple solution is repeated flushing and this should be combined with regular testing and treatment. Before reopening, site managers should ensure a legionella risk assessment takes place on all water systems.”
SAS Water’s legionella control specialists are working closely with the Norfolk luxury lodge park. In all lodges, the hot and cold water taps are being opened twice a week, flushing water through the system for five minutes at a time. Temperatures are then checked, with cold water needing to be below 20 Degrees Centigrade and hot above 50 Degrees Centigrade. Showers are also run for five-minutes, washing machines and dishwashers are run through a washing cycle. Staff working on the water systems must wear PPE and face-coverings at all time. Special care is also taken to clean, test and chlorinate all hot tubs on the park.
On hot tubs, Lizzie commented: “Britain is a nation of hot tub lovers and they are a great way to relax, but they are one of the most regular sources of Legionnaires’ Disease according to public health statistics. Legionella grows naturally in the environment, especially warm freshwater lakes and streams that can be a source for drinking water. It generally only becomes a risk to human health when it enters and multiplies within human-made water and plumbing systems, and then that contaminated water becomes aerosolised.”
SAS Water Ltd has an experienced team of legionella control experts and commercial plumbers. They work across England and Wales and have clients across a range of industry sectors, including offices, care homes, quarries and associated industries with wheel-wash facilities, brickworks, councils, fire and rescue services and hotel, spas and leisure centres.
