Flyer - Legionella Brochure

Legionella in Drinking Water Contact GBA Laboratory Group GBA Gesellschaft fuer Bioanalytik mbH Goldtschmidtstraße 5 21073 Hamburg Germany Tel.: +49 40 / 79 71 72-0 eMail: service@gba-laborgruppe.de www.gba-laborgruppe.de What is legionella? Legionella is a bacterium that flourishes in warm water and can cause severe lung infections (pneumonia, Legionnaires’ disease) while inhaled by humans. In some cases the consequences can be fatal. The Rob-ert Koch Institute estimates between 15,000 and 30,000 cases per year in Germany alone. In 2011, le-gionella was added to the list of testing requirements for drinking water (TrinkwV). Legionella in Drinking Water Pipes Since the first adjustment to the drinking water ordi-nance in May 2011, and through the second revision in December 2012, commercial/industrial and large non-public facilities for heating drinking water (water stor-age capacity > 400L or a pipe volume > 3L between the water heater and the point of withdrawal) are re-quired to demonstrate the quality of the drinking wa-ter every three years. The technical limit value of legionella may not be exceeded (<100 KBE/100mL). The deadline for the first inspection will pass on De-cember 31st, 2013. Until then, all facilities must be tested appropriately. Sampling of Legionella According to §15 Sec. 4 of the Potable Water Regula-tion (TrinkwV), the sampling of legionella for testing must be conducted by an authorized, accredited la-boratory. Samples must be taken from the inlets and outlets of the supply system as well as the individual risers. You can determine the precise sampling points in cooperation with us. The designated collection points must provide the opportunity to ensure sterile, germ-free sampling. Stainless steel valves that are flame resistant or able to be disinfected have proven to be advantageous for sampling at the inlets and outlets. Determining the Sampling Points If you would like, GBA can also determine the sam-pling points for you. If there is no technical documen-tation of the plumbing available for your facility, our competent project consultants will gladly be by your side and establish the sampling points with you. The data required for an approved sampling will then be processed together with you. Our Preparation With GBA the legionella inspection is simple and transparent for you. A designated project consultant will accompany you and your facilities from the very beginning. He will be responsible for answering any questions, technical or organizational, you may have. We coordinate the sampling together with you, so that you can inform the tenants of your property with cer-tainty. We also cooperate with you to define a timeframe for sample collection, so that the tenants can be informed in advance in order to minimize the inconvenience for your tenants. The Procedure In order to ensure a smooth process, we need your permission to access your water heating facilities. If any technical difficulties occur during the sampling, we will inform you immediately and thus enable you to correct the issue directly. Based on our experience, sample collection lasts no longer than 10 minutes per individual tenant. Together, we can plan to execute the sampling in a way that allows the tenants to be given a time window of 2 hours or less. Analyses GBA is a nationwide authorized drinking water labora-tory. The corresponding methods are accredited. The analyses are carried out at our headquarters in Ham-burg, where we expanded our capacities in 2011 in order to ensure that your results are reported on time. Reporting The results are generally reported in an electronic format as a PDF document. Other standard file for-mats are also possible. If you have any special re-quirements for reporting your results, please feel free to let us know. All results will be assessed by our consultants. Results If the technical limit value of the drinking water ordi-nance is exceeded in your samples, then we will be by your side to offer consulting. We are able to assist you with informing the appropriate health authorities and also offer you competent advice. If instantaneous action is necessary, we will of course contact you im-mediately. Risk Assessment In the case that the findings are positive, we will pro-vide you with a risk assessment based on the recom-mendations of the National Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt (UBA)). For this report, you will receive a short questionnaire in which we ask about the relevant data such as the year your facility was constructed, the maintenance, and any known modifi-cations. Generated by our experts, the risk assessment clearly explains the causes and the activities that must be taken for your specific case. Further Activities Based on the risk assessment, discussions with the health authorities, and worksheets from the German Association for Gas and Water (DVGW), the sampling points will be determined for further investigation. We determine these points together with you and support you in your communication with the health authorities. Invoicing The invoicing is also carried out in electronic form as a PDF document. If you would like, the invoices can be adapted to your specifications, organized according to: · Property, · Water heating systems, or · User units If requested, we will identify the in-house services in our invoice for you. Project Completion After completing the project, we do not leave our business partners alone. Instead, we continue to in-form you about the current developments in the drinking water ordinance concerning legionella testing. Additionally, on your behalf, we maintain close con-tact with the environmental authorities, the water and gas association (DVGW), the local and national health authorities, and of course also with your real estate associations. Questions Do you have any additional questions? Then please contact us at the location most convenient to you. Our competent consultants will be delighted to help you and share our long-term experience with you POSITIVELY TRANSPARENT GBA Gesellschaft fuer Bioanalytik mbH Hamburg: Mrs. Heike Schlechte Goldtschmidtstraße 5 21073 Hamburg, Germany Tel.: +49 40 / 79 71 72-0 service@gba-laborgruppe.de Pinneberg: Mrs. Marie-Luise Roeschel Flensburger Straße 15 25421 Pinneberg, Germany Tel.: +49 4101 / 79 46-0 pinneberg@gba-laborgruppe.de Gelsenkirchen: Mr. Philipp Bueschler (PhD) Wiedehopfstraße 30 45892 Gelsenkirchen, Germany Tel.: +49 209 / 97 61 9-0 gelsenkirchen@gba-laborgruppe.de Hameln: Mr. Sven Steinhauer (PhD) Brekelbaumstraße 1 31789 Hameln, Germany Tel.: +49 5151 / 98 49-0 hameln@gba-laborgruppe.de Hildesheim: Mr. Oliver Christel Daimlerring 37 31135 Hildesheim, Germany Tel.: +49 5121 / 750 96-50 hildesheim@gba-laborgruppe.de Freiberg: Mrs. Peggy Jedlicka Meißner Ring 3 09599 Freiberg, Germany Tel.: +49 3731 / 16 30 83-0 freiberg@gba-laborgruppe.de