Environmental factors affecting the colonization of cooling towers by Legionella spp. in South Australia
✍ Scribed by R.H. Bentham
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1993
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 441 KB
- Volume
- 31
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0964-8305
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✦ Synopsis
Legionella colonization in 31 cooling towers in or near Adelaide in South
Australia was investigated. All towers were on identical cleaning and chemical treatment programmes, including treatment with a monomeric quaternary ammonium biocide. Tower construction varied, wood, fibreglass and stainless steel models being included. Over a two-year period, water samples were taken from towers twice weekly and records kept of tower water pH, conductivity, total bacterial count, basin-water temperature, ambient temperature and hours usage of each tower at the time of collection.
Temperature and tower usage showed direct correlation with Legionella counts. Between 60 and 75% of cooling tower waters were colonized by Legionella spp. during the summer months. This figure fell to 20-30% during the winter. Basin-water temperatures were shown to be a major determinant in Legionella colon&ation; regardless of ambient temperature, towers with elevated basin-water temperatures were frequently colonized.
Analysis showed that Legionella counts in towers used continuously throughout the year were not influenced by ambient temperature.