Preventing another Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak in New York

NEW YORK - April 25, 2016 - PRLog -- Just last year, the worst outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in New York's history claimed a number of lives and infected over 100 people. The outbreak was associated with contaminated cooling towers and resulted in new statewide regulations.

Cooling towers use water to regulate heat exchange throughout the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC). During the cooling process, aerosolized water is released and can often be seen as vapor emitted into the atmosphere. If these droplets of water are contaminated with significant quantities of Legionella bacteria, people can contract Legionnaires' disease or Pontiac Fever. As witnessed during the recent outbreak, Legionnaires' disease can be very serious and causes death in approximately 10% of infected people according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Legionella bacteria are common throughout the world; although it grows best in warm water, species have even been identified in the lakes of Antarctica. More pertinent to New Yorkers, Legionella thrives in hot tubs, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems, and cooling towers.

In response, the city and state of NY passed emergency legislation requiring the immediate testing and subsequent registration of all cooling towers. More recently, the city of New York implemented local law 77: NYCRR Title 24, Chapter 8, implementing strict maintenance and control requirements for owners of cooling towers. The new regulatory requirements mandate that building owners, at a minimum, perform daily monitoring of basic water quality parameters, weekly testing of bacterial activity, and quarterly sampling for legionella. All records must be uploaded to the NYS online cooling tower portal and paper records be made available (within 24 hours) to the department of health upon request.

"No one wants a repeat of the outbreak that caused so much pain, suffering, and financial loss in New York last year," said Michael Berrevoets, President, VOETS, LLC. "It's important that building owners comply with the new regulations and we are here to help. Our Legionella experts offer testing, cooling tower water management plans, and training."

To learn more about VOETS and their Legionella, air quality, environmental, health, safety, or occupational testing and consulting services, please visit http://www.VOETS.nyc, email michael@VOETS.nyc, or call (212) 860-7450.