Legionella

Legionella can be the bane of any business; especially caravan parks. Often festering in air conditioning and central heating systems, Legionella is the primary bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ Disease; a type of pneumonia.

A source of relief is that Legionella isn’t incredibly common, though it never hurts to be prepared. For those conscious of the risk, most of your problems will come from a few specific spots within a caravan or a caravan park that should always be addressed and considered.

As people are becoming far more aware of, legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia. It’s actually far more common than was firstly believed, with more and more cases  being diagnosed. 

Caravan and holiday parks can present a particularly high level of risk due to the seasonal nature of their business, the wide range of occupants and the requirement to store and aerate large amounts of water, predominantly via showers, taps, spa pools/Jacuzzis and hoses. However, there also risks associated with swimming pools, water features, irrigation systems. 

Legionnaires’ disease is contracted by inhaling fine, airborne water droplets and anyone can be susceptible to the disease. However, the risk of infection is greatly increased for the following:

Wardgroup are Legionella Control and Water Hygiene specialists and help businesses to comply with government legislation. 

We offer the following services:

Risk Assessment and Water Hygiene Survey which includes a comprehensive hard bound document and asset register containing records of assessment and sources of risk

Provide a Water Hygiene Log book recording monitoring results, responsibilities and lines of communication

Carry out monitoring and checking regime 

Cleansing and disinfection of systems and tanks

Commissioning and disinfection of new systems

There has been a worrying and significant rise in the number of confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease over the past two years.

Overall, the annual number of laboratory-confirmed Legionellosis cases in England & Wales was lower in 2016 (359) than in 2015 (390).  But the number of Legionnaires' disease cases rose to 448 in 2017. In 2018, in the eight months up until the end of August, the number of reported/notified cases of Legionnaire’s disease was already 447.