Seccua Home Solutions

Risks from Water
During 2000–2014, passive surveillance for
Legionellosis in the United States demonstrated
a 286% increase in reported cases per 100,000
population.
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/surv-reporting.html
Legionella in drinking water
Whether you take a shower in the morning, at night,
or after a workout, it helps to revive our senses and
give us a new burst of energy. Hardly anyone would
doubt that showering is healthy. But can we always
be so sure?
Legionella are bacteria that cause lethal Legionnaires’
disease (a severe form of pneumonia) and Pontiac
fever. Legionella is a tiny bacterium that occurs
naturally in soil and surface water and passes into
our water pipes through the cold water. They thrive
and multiply particularly well in the hot water systems
in our homes, in other words, the lines feeding our
home showers. And, if you use energy-saving water
heating systems, such as those power by solar or
heat pump, Legionella thrives particularly well due to
the relatively low temperatures of the hot water.
Legionnaires’ disease is widely spread, often
unrecognised
When you inhale the spray and steam coming off
your shower head, you run the risk of inhaling bacteria,
including Legionella. According to estimates by
the US Center of disease control CDC, some 1,500
cases of legionnaires disease (Legionellosis) per
100,000 population have been reported in the US in
2014 with increasing numbers.
Legionellosis is a severe form of pneumonia caused
by inhaling Legionella in a shower or in the water
vapor coming off HVAC systems.
Hot water is ineffective at killing Legionella
High temperatures were formerly used to fight Legionella
in our water supplies, although only very inadequately.
The temperature needed to be kept above
60°C (140 °F) in all segments of the systems. The
technical design of the pipelines coupled with calcification,
biofilm, and amoebas in the lines keep the
high temperatures from reaching and killing Legionella.
Studies at Technical University Zurich (Switzerland),
ETH Zurich, also show that Legionella can survive
for up to 60 minutes a temperatures of 70°C (158
°F). Long-standing, traditional methods for sanitising
our pipelines are therefore not reliable!
Modern, energy-efficient water heaters such as those
powered by geothermal or solar are usually also not
able to raise the water temperature sufficiently to
ensure that the Legionella is effectively killed.
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