Germs in drinking water in public buildings

Drinking water in public buildings contaminated with germs

07/21/2012

The drinking water from pipes in public buildings is often contaminated with harmful germs. TÜV Rheinland has identified significant bacterial contamination in about every third water sample tested from 25 publicly accessible buildings. Conclusion of the TÜV: When drinking water in public buildings, visitors should be careful.

Together with the magazine „Picture of the woman“ TÜV Rheinland has carried out a nationwide drinking water test in public high-traffic buildings. The result was scary. „Every third water sample is charged“, the expert for microbiology of TÜV Rheinland, Dr. med. Walter Dormagen, in a press release. Among other things, the TÜV found pseudomonas and legionella, with the latter in particular posing a significant health risk.

25 samples of drinking water were examined for germs
The TÜV Rheinland has for „Picture of the woman“ 25 drinking water samples from public buildings in Cologne, Munich, Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg analyzed. The samples were „not according to the Drinking Water Ordinance, according to which, for example, the faucet must be flamed before removal“, taken, but according to the circumstances in reality simply tapped from the tap, reports the TÜV. The aim was to check the water quality in publicly accessible washrooms and toilets in train stations, town halls, universities, a hospital and a shopping center. The bacteria load of the drinking water was measured in „so-called colony-forming units, also called KBE“, explained Dr. Dormagen. The higher the number of cfu, „the more contaminated the sample.“ The specification of the Drinking Water Ordinance is 100 cfu per milliliter. However, this value was exceeded in several samples of drinking water in public buildings - in a particularly heavily contaminated sample from the Leipzig Hospital St. George even five times. Here were about 600 cfu per milliliter.

Hospital germs in the drinking water
In three samples from Munich, Leipzig, and Hamburg, the known as hospital germs Pseudomonas were detected, which can lead to delays in wound healing and cause inflammatory processes in the body under certain circumstances. Once the pseudomonads have settled in the drinking water pipes, they are, according to the TÜV „hard to remove again.“ Bacteria in the pipes form a biofilm around them, a type of mucus that makes disposal much more difficult. In addition, many pseudomonads have developed or developed resistance to antibiotics.

Health risk from legionella
In the drinking water samples from the Cologne city hall and the train station in Cologne and Friedrichstadt Passagen in Berlin, the TÜV found a limit exceeded in the contained Legionella. This is particularly critical because the Legionella are inhaled as so-called aerosols (tiny water droplets in the air) and can trigger life-threatening lung diseases. Legionella multiply especially in stagnant water and at temperatures between 30 to 45 degrees Celsius. According to the TÜV Rheinland annually „more people at these unusual pneumonia caused by legionella than in traffic.“

Avoid germ contamination of the drinking water
Already before publication of the investigation results the TÜV Rheinland and „Picture of the woman“ the affected bodies are informed of the germ load of the drinking water in order to avoid possible health risks for the population. „Almost all operators responded within a few hours, thanked for the information and initiated emergency measures“, so the press release of TÜV Rheinland. According to the experts, the results suggest that the bacterial load is not due to the quality of the drinking water but to the pipe system in the buildings. This was a problem that could also hit private households. Prevent such contamination by intact piping, hot water temperatures of at least 50 degrees and clean aerators and shower heads, the information from the TÜV. (Fp)

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Picture: Lupo