United States. With twelve confirmed deaths and more than 120 cases due to legionellosis, the New York City Council adopted legislation requiring adherence to part of the Legionella standard recently published by ASHRAE.
The legislation deals with the registration and inspection of cooling towers. Owners are required to create and submit a maintenance plan for the equipment in order to comply with Section 7.2 of the 2015 ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188, Legionellosis: Risk Management of Building Water Systems.
The standard sets out the minimum legionellosis risk management requirements for the design, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance, repair, replacement and expansion of new and existing buildings and their water systems and associated components.
"Standard 188 was published just two months ago," said ASHRAE President David Underwood. "Although the circumstances surrounding its use is tragic, ASHRAE is grateful that the standard is available to establish requirements to manage the risk of this bacterium. We are hopeful that other governments will follow the new york City Council's example to help protect public health."
Michael Patton, a committee member who wrote the standard, testified before the Council on behalf of ASHRAE. He spoke about the Council's proposal to adopt Section 7.2, noting that other sections would also play a role in risk reduction. Section 7.2 lists common tasks and steps on topics such as a new system start-up and seasonal shutdowns, general system maintenance, water treatment, disinfection plans, etc.
