Use of a Legionella Tracker towards Legionella control
In this particular case study Nant Ltd. acting as a contractor for a care home group created a Legionella tracker summarising on multiple properties operating under it.
As per ACoP L8 water samples were taken from all the properties twice yearly and necessary action taken accordingly. They were taken in the 2nd and 4rd quarter to gauge the effectiveness of the programme.
Beginning of Year 1
In the first year Nant Ltd. undertook an initial risk assessment and highlighted the areas of concerns of all the properties operating under the Care Home. As per the requirement of the client and on the basis of the Risk Assessments a bespokeLegionella control programme was created with the sole purpose of monitoring the hot and cold water systems. The aim was to reduce the number of positive results of legionella concentration/presence by means of 7AC water and TVC swab analysis.
The first steps were taken to treat the water for all the properties that showed positive results of legionella.
2nd Quarter
The first set of water samples stated out of 24 properties, 10 showed positive results. All the tanks were cleaned and clear swab analysis was achieved.
3rd Quarter
The second set of samples showed tremendous improvement wherein only 6 properties showed positive results. The programme had started showing its effectiveness after this quarter.
In the months following the 3rd quarter there were few issues which lead to fluctuations in the positive results specifically with the same properties. Upon further investigation on the flagged properties it was deduced that the properties showing inconsistencies had a faulty pipework which hindered in the maintenance of optimum temperatures facilitating reoccurrence of Legionella concentration. These issues were immediately highlighted in the areas of concern of the Risk Assessment Audit.
On the recent sampling, the attention to the improvement to pipework still prevails as these issues are handled by their appointed plumbing contractor. It was concluded that reduction in legionella can be narrowed down to temperature management and good engineering practice rather than increased disinfection control
