Commercial Buildings Need to Prioritize Water Safety
Whether you own or operate a commercial building providing domestic hot water to its residents, the rise in reported cases of legionella disease nationally has to concern you. Consider the following graph from the CDC website: Legionella cases reported to CDC have been on the rise since 2000. Health departments reported nearly 10,000 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the United States in 2018, up from barely 1000 cases in 2000, but even that is probably not the whole story. Because many cases of Legionnaires’ disease are improperly diagnosed and unreported, this number almost certainly underestimates the actual occurrences. A recent study estimated that the true number of Legionnaires’ disease cases may be 1.8–2.7 times higher than what is reported. More illness is usually found in the summer and early fall, but it can happen any time of year. The CDC estimates that every year approximately 7.2 million Americans get sick from diseases spread through water. ...