Assisted Living Legionella Prevention

Some plumbing code regulations require that domestic hot water (DHW) systems deliver water at no more than 120°F, which also happens to be in the temperature range for legionella growth. One of the most common growth remediation techniques used by nursing homes is thermal-eradication, which uses superheated water at 140°F (or higher) to kill the bacteria. Those with experience understand that this approach is a huge waste of energy, increases the risk of scalding to the elderly residents, and is known to damage existing plumbing infrastructure features such as faucets and showers that are typically not designed for these higher water temperatures.

CSIDefender® works differently. By releasing positively charged copper and silver ions that bond with bacteria, they neutralize legionella throughout the entire water distribution system and prevent future growth by saturating the biofilm where bacteria grows. And it does this without any chemicals or scalding hot water, making it a safe, reliable, and effective alternative for elderly residents in nursing homes.

Prevent legionella while working within your capital and operational budgetary constraints. Thermal-eradication techniques greatly increase energy costs, and chemical treatments that use chlorine or chlorine dioxide typically require costly third-party service contracts. Both chlorine and thermal eradication are short term solutions that are resource and labor intensive. Alternatively, the CSIDefender® copper silver ionization solution is up to 66% more cost effective than these less reliable solutions. Mitigate the risk of legionella infection, and the costs that come with an outbreak, with CSIDefender®.

With no on-site chemical storage requirements, CSIDefender® solutions are compact and easy to install in any environment. Whether you’re at the design stage of a new long-term care facility or upgrading an existing one with new legionella prevention systems, CSIDefender® can be an integral part of your Legionella growth prevention initiative for point-of-entry (POE) or domestic hot water (DHW) requirements depending on your legionella risk assessment , incoming water temperature, and building occupancy levels. With minimal preventative maintenance requirements compared to other technologies, you will be able to protect residents against the threat of legionella for years to come.

Thermal-eradication and hyper-chlorination chemical treatments can be effective in the short term, but legionella will typically reappear within 3-6 weeks after the process is complete. These treatment options are not considered long-term Legionella growth prevention solutions and do not fully saturate existing biofilm and other contaminates that harbor legionella growth.

The CSIDefender® works by generating and releasing copper and silver ions into the potable water, providing fully automated computer control long term protection against bacteria growth without the need for periodical costly repeated short-term treatments. Plus, these ions fully penetrate the biofilm within 30-45 days, killing bacteria at the source and preventing future growth across the entire water system.