Filtration Facts

ASHRAE Agrees You Need Filtration - Use This ROI Tool To Determine How Much

  

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The best engineers in the HVAC industry have known for years that effective filtration is a smart move when it comes to working with cooling towers. Minimizing energy costs, keeping the entire water system operating at maximum capacity, and making water systems more sustainable are just a few perks that come along with proper filtration. Reducing health risks is also a benefit, as evidenced by repeated cases of Legionnaires’ disease around the world when these practices are not followed. Outbreaks of this dangerous type of pneumonia have been popping up all over the world in recent years, including the California State Capitol Building,  hotels and hospitals in Miami and many more. Not even the Playboy Mansion has been immune. Most recently, the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada experienced an outbreak of the disease.

According to OSHA, every year in the United States there is an estimated 25,000 new cases of Legionnaires’ Disease, 4,000 of which result in death. Almost all of these cases are a result of exposure to the bacteria from the water system in a non-residential building water system, such as a hotel or hospital.

Legionella Prevention Should Include Centrifugal Separators
Frustrations that Legionnaires’ Disease continues to occur is reaching new levels. Fines have been levied on organizations that fail to take proper safeguards, including a recent case in Great Britain where an elderly man died after contracting the disease in a hot tub at one of Scotland’s top vacation resorts. On top of a £120,000 ($193,320 US) fine, the resort could be forced to pay the victim’s family up to £1 million ($1,611,000 US) in court.

The resort has plead guilty to a lack of suitable and sufficient risk assessments. Facility managers admitted to discounting the threat of Legionella because their water systems were part of a new installation.

New ASHRAE Standard Sets New Requirements for Legionella Prevention
New ASHRAE Standard 188P is currently up for public review and is expected to be approved and published soon. The publication will specify requirements for prevention of Legionellosis associated with building water systems. 188P is different from Guideline 12 in that the new standard outlines the practice of exactly what must be done with all those recommendations.

Compliance with the Standard requires facility managers and owners to take responsibility for controlling Legionella in their building water systems. Not only that, but they will be proactively complying with what will most likely be incorporated into local building codes. At the same time it acts as a defense against accusations of negligence in cases which are caused by unknown sources.

DOWNLOAD Our FREE Filtration Return On Investment Tool
Which LAKOS product is best for your cooling tower filtration, and how much energy and water can you expect to save by installing one? Download our Excel-based software tool and determine the Return on Investment (ROI) for different options. This ROI tool is a comprehensive guide to getting started on selecting the best option for you. See how effective filtration can pay for itself in energy and water savings in a very short amount of time and reduce health risks at the same time. Download it today!