Chlorine Dioxide for Combating Legionella in Drinking Water
Sustaintial elimination of legionella in drinking water systems is only possible when combined with combating biofilm in pipes.
Biofilm are layers of microorganisms and extra cellular substances. These, often slimy or fungal-type layers, are inhabited by legionella bacteria, which multiply well in this environment. The main problem is that biofilms are extremely resistant to disinfectants. Legionella, protected against chemical attack by the biofilms, are therefore resistant to most disinfectants. Direct destruction of Legionella will not solve the problem permanently.
Chlorine dioxide is the most effective weapon that can be used in drinking water for fighting biofilm, legionella, pseudomonad's and other pathogenic bacteria simultaneously. When a gas is released in water, it penetrates the protective layers of slime-forming microorganisms, which leads not only to inhibite the growth of biofilm, but also to its gradual removal of biofilm from all pipe-work. The main advantage of using chlorine dioxide is that as a disinfectant it meets the requirements of drinking water regulations and therefore continual metering is possible. In this way, very small concentrations can achieve freely from legionella in the short term and sustain this in the long term. Unlike other disinfectants, there is no corrosion associated with high chlorine dioxide even protects pipelines, which are not in continual use.
The efficiency of fighting legionella with chlorine dioxide depends absolutely on optimizing the dosage at different points in the water system being treated. Chlorine dioxide generators from the ProMinent Bello Zon® product series supply extremely pure chlorine dioxide which can be continually reproduced. Both the chlorine dioxide concentration and the chlorite concentration as a by-product of the treatment process are continually metered using DULCOTEST® sensors. In this way compliance with the prescribed threshold values of drinking water regulations are guaranteed at all times.
Advantages
- Reliable, sustained destruction of legionella, pseudomonads and other bacteria
- Breakdown of biofilm in all distribution systems
- Cost-effective cleaning of infected warm and cold water systems
- The highest microbiological effectiveness while complying with drinking water regulations
- No resistance build-up (No residual by products)
- Combating legionella without operational interruption
- Reliable online control
As the market leader for Chloride Dioxide generators in the food industry, ProMinent has years of know how. We are able to provide customer-specific solutions, even for fighting legionella in drinking water pipes, where safe, reliable and economic disinfection is always the main concern.
The customer’s voice
“Thanks to chlorine dioxide technology by ProMinent, the fouling rate at all sampling points in our wide ranging network could be reduced to zero ! Legionella is no longer a danger to our hospital."
Peter Leonards
Hygiene Specialist of the Hospital "Mutterhaus der Borromäerinnen" in Trier (Germany)
