Grundfos is ready to fight Dubai’s Legionella outbreak

Grundfos is partnering up with end users and consultant to help stamp out the current outbreak of deadly Legionnaire’s disease; which has been affecting citizens and visitors in the Middle East since early last year.

Legionnaire’s Disease is a deadly form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria that thrive in warm and damp water conditions. The bacteria can be inhaled in water mist from the likes of air-conditioning systems, showers and spa baths that have become infected. It causes a range of flu-like symptoms including, feverishness, muscle pain and  headaches. The disease can be fatal to about 30% of the people who have been infected, with smokers, the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions most at risk.   

Since the beginning of 2017, the disease has been on the rise in Dubai. 65 cases have been recorded amongst travelers who have stayed in hotels and apartments in and around the region.        

Legionella bacteria are widely present in nature, but in such low concentrations that present no hazard. However, in stagnant conditions where water reaches temperatures of between 20 and 45oC, particularly where systems are rusty or  poorly maintained, they multiply rapidly.  

The latest Oxyperm PRO Chlorine Dioxide dosing and delivery systems, developed by Grundfos, enables the bacteria to be effectively killed off without any of the drawbacks of the existing solutions. These solutions include Cu-Ag ionization,  filtration and chlorination; which generally offer only temporary or partial protection and leave drinking water tainted as well as being often very expensive.  

This is because Chlorine Dioxide is a much more powerful disinfectant, killing micro- rganisms in water by an irreversible oxidative destruction of the transport proteins in  in the living cells. It has no smell or taste and does not leave any harmful residues and is relatively inexpensive to use as it is very effective in low doses and has a much longer residual effect than traditional treatments. It has the added advantage of killing off germs that are resistant to biocides, as well as free bacteria floating in the water. Furthermore, bacteria do not develop any sort of immunity system against  Chlorine dioxide, in comparison to other methods of disinfection, such as Cu-Ag ionization. 

Oxyperm PRO systems are state-of-the-art disinfection system with advanced batch-reaction-technology that produce and deliver CLO2 directly into the water  system. A built-in digital dosing pump and precision flow measurement system deliver chemical additives in precise amounts – adjusting dosing to exactly match water flow, ensuring maximum  effectiveness and an extremely low overall system cost.

In most cases, a single compact unit, installed on the hot water system close to the point of entry of the water main, is sufficient to effectively protect a building against the legionella bacteria as well as a range of other germs, bacteria and contaminants.  

Technical experts from Grundfos Competence Center in Dubai are available to discuss the chlorine dioxide application in more detail and advise on issues such as system design, sizing, and cost associated with using this type of solution.