ASHRAE Journal - June 2020 - 74

COLUMN IEQ APPLICATIONS

large building,12 so returning a building to service
requires signiﬁcant lead time and planning. An initial
ﬂush should include cleaning ﬁxtures at all points
of use, including faucets, shower heads, drinking
fountains, ice machines, showers and water features
that generate aerosols.11 Additional ﬂushing should
continue until water quality is back to normal.11 When
bringing a building back online after a prolonged
period of low to no use, it is helpful to validate that
ﬂushing and other remediation actions are working
by testing for the presence of L. pneumophila. As stated
above, it is important that testing is performed by an
accredited laboratory.10
Speciﬁc actions for maintaining appropriate temperatures, ﬂushing, and general control of L. pneumophila
will depend on the building itself. Buildings that have
a water management program (WMP), based on the
ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188 seven-step principles, will
be able to implement these best practices faster and
with less effort than those without. ASHRAE Standard
188, the only ANSI-accredited standard for creating a

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J U N E 2020

WMP, requires WMPs to have procedures for building
shutdown, restarting from a shutdown condition, and
ﬂushing. Any building that still does not have a WMP
that adheres to ASHRAE Standard 188 should take steps
to implement one as soon as possible.
Maintaining good water quality, and therefore public
health, is top of mind across the globe. It is critical for
building owners, operators and water treaters to ensure
that building water stagnation does not contribute to
increased risk from L. pneumophila and Legionnaires' disease. There are several water management best practices
to follow while public buildings have low or no occupancy. Adhering to these best practices improves overall
public health and serves to mitigate the risk of waterborne pathogens in building water systems.

References
1. Mervosh, S., D. Lu, V. Swales. 2020."See which states and cities
have told residents to stay at home." New York Times. April 7. https://
tinyurl.com/yb3m92mr.
2. STR. 2020. "STR: U.S. hotel results for week ending 28 March
[press release]." https://tinyurl.com/ybgkpoxw.
3. World Health Organization. 2007. "Legionella and the
prevention of legionellosis." https://tinyurl.com/rneq6n7.
4. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
2020. Management of Legionella in Water Systems. Washington, DC:
The National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/25474.
5. Soda, E.A., A.E. Barskey, P.P. Shah, et al. 2017 "Vital Signs:
Health care-associated Legionnaires' disease surveillance data
from 20 states and a large metropolitan area-United States, 2015."
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 2017;66(22):584-589.
doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6622e1.
6. American Water Works Association. 2020. "COVID-19 Water
Sector Impact Survey (March 10-16, 2020)." Denver, CO: American
Water Works Association. https://tinyurl.com/y8uw9uvk.
7. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188-2018, Legionellosis: Risk Management
for Building Water Systems.
8. CDC. 2017. "Developing a Water Management Program to
Reduce Legionella Growth & Spread in Buildings: A Practical Guide
to Implementing Industry Standards [toolkit]." Atlanta, GA: Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. https://tinyurl.com/ycyp4brn.
9. Katz, S.M., J.M. Hammel. 1987. "The effect of drying, heat, and
pH on the survival of Legionella pneumophila." Annals of Clinical and
Laboratory Science. 17(3):150-156.
10. ASHRAE Guideline 12-2020, Minimizing the Risk of Legionellosis
Associated with Building Water Systems.
11. ESPRI. 2020. "Building Water Quality and Coronavirus:
Flushing Guidance for Periods of Low or No Use." Philadelphia,
PA: Environmental Science, Policy & Research Institute and AH
Environmental Consultants, Inc. https://tinyurl.
com/yaple8ms.
12. Water Research Foundation. 2018. "Flushing
Guidance for Premise Plumbing and Service
Lines to Avoid or Address a Drinking Water
https://bit.ly/2YUre1l
Advisory." Project #4572. https://tinyurl.com/
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http://www.tinyurl.com/yb3m92mr http://www.tinyurl.com/yb3m92mr https://www.tinyurl.com/ybgkpoxw https://www.tinyurl.com/rneq6n7 https://www.tinyurl.com/y8uw9uvk https://www.tinyurl.com/ycyp4brn https://esprinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FINAL_Coronavirus-Building-Flushing-Guidance-20200403-rev-1.pdf https://esprinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FINAL_Coronavirus-Building-Flushing-Guidance-20200403-rev-1.pdf http://www.rotorsource.com https://www.bit.ly/2YUre1l https://www.waterrf.org/system/files/resource/2019-05/4572.pdf https://www.waterrf.org/system/files/resource/2019-05/4572.pdf https://www.ashrae.org/

ASHRAE Journal - June 2020

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