No holiday from Legionella compliance
Any holiday facility that isn’t consistently in use throughout the year, such as a holiday or static caravan park, needs particular vigilance when it comes to Legionella prevention. The same applies to any holiday home which is left empty for several weeks at a time.
As good as new
Before any water system that has had its usage restricted, or that has been drained down completely, is put back into use, the system should be recommissioned as though it were new. When recommissioning, you must protect the integrity of the system and its users against the risk of Legionella proliferation and exposure, and the possibility of contracting Legionnaires Disease.
Key requirements during recommissioning include:
- Check your risk assessment or create a new one. Ideally, a full survey of the system including pipework, cold water storage tanks and hot water storage vessels should be carried out to determine if any remedial work is required following a period in which there was no normal routine use.
- The cold-water system should be disinfected (either via the cold-water break and storage tanks or by mains injection) using stabilised silver hydrogen peroxide, which should then be flushed fully through the system. This method of chemical disinfection will break down potential biofilms, including Legionella, within the system.
- Hot water systems should be disinfected by cold water down service or by thermal disinfection. Thermal disinfection is achievable by raising the temperature to 70°C+ and allowing to circulate within the distribution system for at least 1 hour.
- Water treatment plant such as water softeners and dosing equipment should be serviced and salt/chemical stocks replenished.
- The storage tanks, hot water vessels and sentinel outlets should be sampled for Legionella prior to the recommissioning of the system to ensure the above tasks have been sufficient to remove the harmful risk.
Ongoing risk management
You must remain vigilant in managing your Legionella risk as an ongoing task. Legionnaires’ Disease is a potentially fatal illness and a major public health concern. Even if the site is fully occupied all year round, it is good practice to update your Legionella risk assessment every two years.
If you are in any doubt as to whether you can assess your Legionella control needs and responsibilities effectively, please contact our experts for assistance. We are members of the Legionella Control Association (LCA), so with Swiftclean you are in safe hands.
Please call us on 0800 243 471 or email info@swiftclean.co.uk for a free quotation and further guidance.
