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The Problem
In the US, high quality potable water treated to the National Primary
Drinking Water Standard typically enters building water systems. However,
that water is then processed and used in the facility. Degradation of water
quality due to processing often results in exposure of building occupants to
hazardous conditions.
Characteristics of typical premise plumbing in building water system,
such as complex networks of small diameter pipes, render building water
systems susceptible to microbial fouling. Water quality degradation due
heating, storing, conditioning, filtering, cooling, pressure regulation and
distribution throughout the building often results in exposure of people to
unsafe water in the buildings they occupy.
The Significance of the Problem
Every year in the United States, tens of thousands of people are seriously
injured or die from exposure to premise plumbing hazards. Disease
incidence in the US is increasing (Neil 2008, CDC 2011, CDC 2013). It
has become the most significant water-related safety issue in the developed
world today (Water Research Foundation, 2013). The harm caused by this
problem is extensive, serious and preventable.
Factors common in outbreaks of legionellosis in the US are (Lucas 2013):
• Lack of familiarity with how water is processed in complex building
water systems
• Lack of effective microbiological controls
• Lack of coordinated prevention efforts
