Automated Legionella Compliance System

Legionella is a type of bacteria that can get into the water supply of a building and multiply.

The bacteria cause Legionnaires’ disease which is a severe form of pneumonia. Symptoms of the disease include muscle pain, headache, fever, coughing and shortness of breath. It can lead to severe chest infections and can take up to ten days to develop. 

Unfortunately, no vaccine exists for the disease, but the UK government is very clear on the legal responsibilities that business owners must adhere to.

According to duties listed under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) on Legionella, an employer or the person in control of a business or residential premises is responsible for taking the right precautions to reduce the risks of exposure to Legionella. Executing regular Legionella risk assessments will ensure that you do not receive heavy fines or are held liable under the law. 

Key requirements include monitoring your water temperature at regular intervals and flushing both hot and cold taps for two minutes. The results must be recorded and retained for five years.

If you are an employer or someone in control of premises (including landlords) you must understand the health risks associated with Legionella.

• water is stored or re-circulated as part of your system
• the water temperature in all or some part of the system may be between 20–45 °C
• there are deposits that can support bacterial growth, such as rust, sludge, scale and organic matter
• it is possible for water droplets to be produced and, if so, if they can be dispersed
• it is likely that any of your employees, contractors, visitors etc could be exposed to any contaminated water droplets.

It is necessary to keep hot and cold water systems clean. Hot water should always be above 50 °C; cold water should be below 25 °C and ideally below 20 °C. A further measure to prevent the spread of the disease includes flushing unused taps in buildings on a weekly basis.

In the UK the control of hot and cold water temperatures in buildings is seen as the preferred method for controlling Legionella and other waterborne pathogens.

If the water used in a building, by accident or design, sits between 20-45 degrees Celsius, Legionella and other potentially dangerous bacteria can breed and spread through the water system. That’s why regular temperature monitoring of a water system ensures that the water temperatures stay within a safe range.

• Automated temperature test schedules 
• Automated flushing schedules
• Real-time monitoring
• Real-time reporting
• Observe all required water outlets
• Five years of historical data on an interactive platform
• Records in both CSV and PDF formats
• Real-time alarm notifications if temperature thresholds exceeded minimum or maximum values

The units are accompanied by a dashboard that can be accessed through any smart device, putting a full overview of your installation into the palm of your hand. You can schedule your flushing and temperature tests with ease, and your weekly reports are automatically generated and uploaded to your personal dashboard.

The customisable dashboard and the compliance units are all connected via the Orion Data Network, which provides real-time data and will alert you of any issues connected to the flushing and temperature testing routine.