Legionella Resource Center
The Only Guide You Need on Legionella in Water Systems
Most outbreaks of the disease are happening in large buildings such as schools, hotels,gyms, restaurants, factories, and other commercial and property management buildings, where the bacteria has grown and spread throughout the water system. Many of these types of buildings were closed for long periods of time due to COVID lockdowns, and now as they begin to re-open, we’re seeing a spike in cases of Legionnaires’ Disease across the country. In hospitals and nursing homes especially, where germs spread with ease and patients are vulnerable to infection—Legionnaires’
Disease can present a significant danger. Intellihot is committed to combating the rise of Legionella bacteria in
buildings by providing information and products to keep you safe.
What Is Legionella?
Legionella is the name of a category of bacteria responsible for causing the so-called Legionnaires’
disease. This is a serious form of pneumonia that can be particularly harmful to certain groups of
people.
How Does Legionella Spread?
Legionella is found in freshwater areas, such as lakes, rivers, and streams. If present in very small
concentration, it doesn’t tend to cause any problem. However, when this bacteria grows and enters
residential or commercial water systems, it can become a concern.
Legionella bacteria can infiltrate building water systems, including faucets, showerheads, hot tubs,
fountains and water features, hot water tanks, and thrives in old, stagnant water.
What Are the Symptoms of Legionella?
Not everyone who is exposed to the bacteria automatically contracts the disease or manifests any
symptoms. Those who do can develop two different types of illnesses: Legionnaires’ disease and
Pontiac fever.
Legionnaires’ Disease
This illness is a type of lung infection very similar to pneumonia. Symptoms can include cough, fever, headaches, difficulty breathing, and body aches. Less frequently, this disease can manifest itself through other symptoms, such as nausea, diarrhea, and confusion. Symptoms tend to appear two to ten days after contact with the bacteria, although they have been known to begin as late as two weeks after exposure.
Pontiac Fever
This is a milder type of illness compared to Legionnaires’ disease, and it’s not a lung infection. The main symptoms of Pontiac Fever are high temperature and body aches. Its onset is also different from Legionnaires’ disease, as it generally occurs between a few hours to three days after exposure.
Who Is More at Risk of Developing Serious Legionella Symptoms?
As we mentioned earlier, not everyone who gets exposed to the Legionella bacteria will get sick. In fact, if you are young and generally fit and healthy, chances are that you will be fine. Some people, however, are at higher risk of developing serious symptoms, and these include the elderly,
immuno-compromised people, smokers, people with a chronic illness or with cancer, and people
with underlying health conditions.
What Can You Do to Prevent Legionella?
To prevent both Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac Fever, it’s imperative to reduce and control the
risk of Legionella growth and transmission in water systems. You can achieve this by making sure that your building water systems are clean and well-maintained, as well as monitor your water regularly for Legionella bacteria. Legionella bacteria thrive in old, stagnant waters, so you should always ensure that the water you use in your building is always fresh and running.
Conditions for Legionella Growth
- Presence of Bio-Film
- Stagnant Water
- Low Water Temperature
How Tankless Water Heaters Mitigate Legionella Growth
Constant Turbulence
Using advanced flow control, tankless units keep the water moving.
Tankless Technology
No water is stored, eliminating the bacteria and bio-film risks posed by stored, or stagnant water.
High Temperatures & Monitoring
Intellihot intelligent tankless systems keep your water temp set above 120 degrees with monitoring available from an easy-to-use mobile app, that allows you to monitor temperatures at all times..
How Can Intellihot Help You?
The days of enormous, expensive tanks — so heavy they often need to be installed via helicopter —
are over. Gone too are the health dangers these tanks produce, such as the increasing prevalence
of Legionnaires’ Disease, which is brought on by bacteria that grow in the stagnant water created by
the outmoded hot-water technology.
Instead, Intellihot offers business owners compact, efficient, environmentally friendly machines that greatly decrease energy usage and produce only as much hot water as needed. The savings are nearly incalculable in terms of energy, money, and effort.
Additionally, Intellihot’s models use AI to constantly analyze their own performance, monitoring
their output and predicting when parts will need replacing. So instead of worrying about their water
systems and hoping they don’t simply quit, owners can relax knowing the Intellihot unit will inform
them of any impending issues that could lead to a breakdown. Preventive maintenance can be
performed without any loss of service, all in an efficient, environmentally friendly package.
Additional Resources
Legionella e-book: Mitigating Legionella Risk
This eBook will help commercial property owners and landlords better understand the risks of Legionella in hot water systems, and how to design a system that can mitigate the risk of Legionella and Legionnaires’ Disease in commercial buildings.
How Do You Test for Legionella in Water?
It may be gross to think about, but the normal bacteria we drink in our water are harmless and healthy for us! However, on some occasions, bad bacteria can make their way into our drinking water. One of these bad bacteria is Legionella. Most people have never heard of Legionella and don’t know the risks this dangerous bacteria presents. Keep reading to learn more about Legionella and how to prevent it from affecting your water system.
