In spring 2017, we contacted the management of a prestigious Lazise resort in order to propose our innovative AQUARING system for the control of legionella bacteria and limestone prevention.
As is well known, the legionella bacterium arrives through the water of the aqueduct and then, due to the heating of the water at temperatures between 20 and 55 °, tends to proliferate infesting the pipes of the plumbing system in addition to the limits indicated by the law.
All public or private facilities that use water for sanitary use at a regulated temperature as above, have legionella problems and every serious structure adopts the control systems chosen among the working hypotheses suggested by the guidelines of the Regional State Agreement; often, however, good will is thwarted by the presence of limestone concretions and the bio film layer almost always present in the hot or cold water pipes. This obliges frequent self-checks and consequent repeated corrective actions and even in this case, in the past, anomalous values immediately corrected with thermal shocks have been detected.
Unfortunately, however, the thermal shock, in addition to being very expensive when done correctly, also damages the inner surface of the tube by pre-establishing the conditions for an increase in the bio film and thus helping to favor the conditions for the survival of the bacteria.
Our system instead wants to solve the problem by eliminating the incoming bacteria, preventing the formation of new limestone and gradually eliminating the survival conditions of the bacteria by dissolving the pre-existing limestone layer and the bio film, all without the use of chemicals but with the simple use of EE that does not damage the structures in any way.
Model photo to protect hot water recirculation
Model photo for limestone prevention
In the spring of 2017 we have thus arranged an application in the sauna and massage treatment area, previously subject to special attention; we have installed two units with the goal of
– AQUARING L 63: to prevent limescale formation
– AQUARING SP 63: to form a barrier to the entry of new bacteria and at the same time to gradually eliminate existing limestone and bio film
The signal they emitted, measured with the oscilloscope, gave the guarantee of a good positioning.
An initial confirmation of the action of AQUARING we had almost immediately after the installation: the staff asked the management what had changed in the treatment of water as it found easier the cleaning service, the water ” looked different ” .
From the analysis of the water carried out in the following three months, the measured bacterial charges had values lower than the maximum allowed by law, immediately afterwards, in the month of November, in a part of the very little department used, in some showers, was detected a quantity of bacteria higher than allowed even if clearly inferior to the measurements made in the period before our application. The data was however expected, not measurable in its entity but experience tells us that after the application the bacteria are reduced except to reappear due to the cleaning of the bio film: the bacteria nested in the bio film are spread in the water, the analysis shows an increase but later the values are once again decreasing. In order to speed up the cleaning action of the pipes, in December we decide to temporarily replace the SP model with the most powerful AQUARING VCA; in the following period, the weekly analyzes carried out gave results of values lower than the legal minimum with great satisfaction of the owners of the structure.
CONCLUSIONS: Legionella bacteria are widespread and difficult to contain, there are several suggested ways to combat it, all with positive aspects and all with contraindications, no system can guarantee an immediate and lasting positive result over time; AQUARING is a technology that does save, it is not invasive and has no contraindications, it has an immediate effect but above all progressively eliminates the main causes of the persistence of bacteria, so in the long run it is the system that gives the best results with the lowest costs.
Using AQUARING does not exclude the intervention with thermal shock, but it will be more and more rare until it becomes a sporadic episode.
Photo of one of the buildings of the complex
