Stricter controls in drinking water regulation

Drinking Water Ordinance obliges landlords to Legionella control

01/11/2011

Today, Germany's First Regulation amending the Drinking Water Ordinance came into force, which stipulates not only a new limit for the uranium content of drinking water, but also stricter controls on Legionella in large-scale systems for heating drinking water. This also applies to multi-family dwellings in which the water must be examined once a year for Legionella. The cost of this is borne by the tenants, as the study on the operating costs can be fully allocated.

Not only the installations in companies, schools, kindergartens, nursing homes and other community facilities, but also rental apartments count to the drinking water systems that must be reported to the health authorities and checked for Legionella. Written reports must be made of large systems for DHW heating of at least 400 liters capacity or with a pipeline volume of at least three liters between the outlet of the DHW heater and the extraction point. The regulation applies both to new installations and to existing installations.

Limit values ​​for uranium content of drinking water
As the State Minister for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, Christine Clauß (CDU), said in a recent communication on the new regulation, the ordinance came into force on November 1, 2011 „in addition to the clarifications and the consideration of new scientific findings, the adaptation to European law requirements as well as the closure of regulatory gaps.“ The Minister of State added that „the assurance of comprehensive consumer protection“ Farther „the most important goal of the Drinking Water Ordinance remains.“ In addition to the newly introduced limit value for uranium of a maximum of 0.01 milligrams per liter, which corresponds to the Federal Environment Agency's conduct value announced in 2004 and takes into account the chemical toxicity of uranium (radioactivity is only decisive for larger quantities), the new regulation explicitly targeting the germ load of drinking water with legionella. These should urgently be minimized in order to exclude potential health risks for the population, said the Saxon State Minister.

Reduction of legionella in drinking water
Therefore, the Drinking Water Ordinance not only introduced a technical measure of action for legionella, but also laid down the obligation to register and control large plants. The technical measure of action for Legionella was set at 100 CFU (colony-forming units) per 100 milliliters of drinking water in order to exclude potential infection risks due to the germ load. For even low concentrations of Legionella can reach, for example, when using the shower as aerosols (tiny droplets in the air) in the lungs and trigger the extremely threatening legionellosis (Legionnaires disease). The bacteria in the bacteria are generally contained in drinking water, but only by an uncontrolled increase they reach concentrations that can cause disease-causing in humans. The optimal propagation conditions are piping systems in which the water has 25 to 45 degrees Celsius and has low flow velocities. Water temperatures above 60 degrees Celsius, however, lead to the death of bacteria. However, today, often for reasons of energy saving, the water in the facilities is no longer heated sufficiently, so that a massive increase in the Legionella threatens, the statement of reasons for the adoption of the current Regulation. The amendment to the Drinking Water Ordinance therefore stipulates an investigation obligation for Legionella for companies and other owners of publicly or commercially operated large-scale systems for heating drinking water, whereby also the renting of apartments is to be designated as commercial use, explained the Saxon Minister of State.

Heavy pneumonia caused by Legionella infection
According to the experts, deposits and the formation of so-called biofilms, in which legionella can multiply optimally, not only favor the low water temperatures in drinking water systems but also inadequately maintained piping systems. For the health of the population, this may be a serious threat, because the consequences of the so-called Legionnaires' disease are not to be underestimated. Unlike many other bacteria in the drinking water, which are usually absorbed through the digestive tract and cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, the biggest risk of legionella is lungs. Thus, the inhaled in the form of aerosols Legionella can cause severe pneumonia with potentially life-threatening consequences for those affected. With the amendment to the Drinking Water Ordinance now in force, the authorities hope to minimize the risk of bacterial spread via drinking water systems in the future.

Additional costs for tenants through drinking water samples
For the tenants, the once a year due study of drinking water on Legionella brings significant additional costs. In the opinion of housing construction companies, an expense of at least 25 euros per apartment per apartment is due to the sampling and laboratory examinations. The drinking water samples must be taken at three points in the large-scale systems: at the inlet, at the return and at the furthest point of the heating. The expected costs of the drinking water examination amount to about 200 euros even for the simplest examinations, with more complicated ones „However, systems with multiple risers can quickly become 400 euros“, said the board member of the Association Berlin-Brandenburg Housing Company (BBU), Maren Kern, to the „Berlin morning mail“. So the BBU assumes that „The new regulation entails considerable bureaucracy“ bring and „the tenants a lot of money“ will cost. (Fp)

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Image: Sebastian Karkus