Legionella bacteria occur naturally in warm, freshwater environments, but they pose a risk when they grow in plumbing systems. Stagnation leads to Legionella accumulating in biofilms, such as on pipe walls. It then spreads when water is distributed throughout the building, and becomes problematic to people when aspirated.
Points of contamination in a building are numerous and include:
In higher risk populations, Legionella can cause a serious type of pneumonia (Legionnaires’ disease) and Pontiac Fever. Legionella is one of the leading water-borne disease agents in the USA, with reported cases increasing more than five-fold from 2000-2017 (CDC). A simple approach to managing Legionella is to adequately treat the water in the buildings' water systems.
UV light rapidly inactivates microorganisms through a physical process. Exposing Legionella to certain wavelengths of UV light damages the DNA and renders them unable to reproduce. Most Legionella species are sensitive to UV light, meaning the UV dose requirements for control are generally low.
UV can be applied at the point-of-entry (POE) as a complementary treatment barrier for the whole building, or at point-of-use (POU) for high-risk areas within a plumbing or mechanical system. UV is a proven solution for preventing Legionella contamination of building water systems, and can be used in:
The VIQUA PRO Series are robust, point-of-entry systems certified to NSF 55 Class A for flow rates up to 30 GPM. Equipped with a leading flow meter/UV sensor combination providing realtime UV dose, the PRO Series are suited to environments where measurement of ongoing system operation is preferred.
The VIQUA Professional series spans high-efficiency, compact UV systems certified to NSF Class B designed for small commercial scale flow rates to high commercial flow, multi-lamp UV systems.
The Aquafine Logic series offers robust UV systems well suited to the life sciences market.
The OptiVenn Series is a family of robust and flexible UV systems with advanced technology for pharmaceutical, food & beverage, microelectronics and other industrial markets.
For added protection at high-risk areas within a plumbing system, the VIQUA Tap series is designed for low-flow and point-of-use applications.
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