By Sherry Rivera, Envirron

Legionella bacteria traced to and found in cooling towers have affected several areas of the Bronx, NY and North Carolina, worrying public health officials and producing much negative publicity. Do you want to keep your Cooling Towers safe and clean and FREE of Legionella? This is critical given the publicity and remediation costs and legal fees for those found to have Legionella. We share news of a better way for those willing to do something other than the same old AND costly reactive measures.

We now know that current methods prove less, if not ineffective. Dr. Jay Varna, New York City Deputy Commissioner for Disease Control said the problem is that most people think of cleaning a cooling tower like a kitchen counter – scrub hard and it is good. One needs to be incredibly aggressive in dealing with this, he says.

The threat of Legionella bacteria in cooling towers remains very real since these rooftop devices use an evaporative process which allows a small portion of the water being cooled to evaporate into a moving air stream. This process exposes recirculated water – the perfect incubator for bacterial growth and biofilm which can be dangerous and unhealthy – to the atmosphere.

Many operators use chemicals to control this environmental exposure. However, these same chemicals prove harmful to the environment and to operators and are expensive, difficult to store, dispose of, and manage. A better way exists instead of total reliance on chemicals: the innovative application of Ultraviolet Technology set up appropriately to manage the microbial growth.

Why Ultraviolet (UV) Technology?

All living organisms, including microbes, contain DNA. UV light penetrates the cell body of microorganisms, reaches the DNA and harms it. This safe and reliable UV process renders the bacteria unable to reproduce in a non-chemical manner. By exposing microbes in the water of a cooling tower to UV, you assure their destruction.

Environmentally safe Ultraviolet needs no operator licensing, proves effective on a wide variety of pathogens, operates continuously, offers low operating costs, significantly reduces the need for chemicals, and requires little maintenance. UV use – in conjunction with a Filtration system – results in a much cleaner system; it introduces constant suppression of microorganism growth at better levels than those achievable with chemicals.

The end results: A More Efficient, Economical and Environmentally Friendly Water Treatment Program; a very attractive payback period; and an effective treatment to prevent outbreak of Legionella. It makes sense for Real Estate Owners, Property Managers, Facility Managers, Engineers, and anyone responsible for these towers to seriously consider adding UV technology to their Cooling Tower management program.

If you have any questions or for more information on the use of UV radiation for cooling towers and other health-related water management issues, please contact Ms. Sherry Rivera of Envirron at sherry@envirron.com or at 516-458-5384.