Key Finding: We found Legionella in occurrence-in-large-public-drinking-water-systems-in-the-united-states-of-america/”>water-main biofilms in two city drinking water systems. This proves that these biofilms, the slimy stuff that builds up inside pipes, can hide this dangerous pathogen. So, what do we do? Keeping enough disinfectant in the water, controlling the temperature in those pipes, and regularly flushing and checking the system are all crucial steps to cut down on Legionella risk.

\\n\\nWaak, Michael B.; LaPara, Timothy M.; Halle, Cynthia; Hozalski, Raymond M.\\n\\nENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 52 (14):7630-7639; 10.1021/acs.est.8b01170 JUL 17 2018\\n\\nAbstract: Many places in the US add chlorine or chloramine to drinking water to kill bad germs. In Europe, that’s less common. We wanted to see how this difference played out. We looked for Bacteria and Legionella in water-main biofilms and tap water. We compared a US system that uses chloramine to a Norwegian system that doesn’t use any disinfectant. We used a test called real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Even though the chloraminated system generally had warmer water and more food for bacteria, it had way fewer total Bacteria and Legionella in its biofilms and tap water (p < 0.05). In fact, we didn’t find any Legionella in the chloraminated system’s biofilms (0 out of 35 samples). But in the system with no disinfectant? We found Legionella often, in 10 out of 23 samples, with one sample having as many as 7.8 x 10(4) gene copies per square centimeter. Our study suggests that water-main biofilms can be a source of Legionella that gets into your tap water and home plumbing. Using chloramine seems to help keep those numbers down.\\n\\nThe post Occurrence of Legionella spp. in Water-Main Biofilms from Two Drinking Water Distribution Systems appeared first on Facts About Water.\\n\\nSource: Water Feed