Posted on 05/08/2011 11:31:41 PM PDT by LucyT
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is replacing its new high-tech, electric-eye faucets with the old-fashioned kind after discovering that the new hands-free designs actually allowed more contamination from Legionella and other bacteria than the old style.
Although the high-tech faucets cut daily water consumption by well over half, Johns Hopkins researchers identified Legionella growing in 50 percent of cultured water samples from 20 electronic-eye faucets in or near patient rooms on three different inpatient units, but in only 15 percent of water cultures from. . . . ."
(Excerpt) Read more at microbeworld.org ...
I would suspect that there is not enough water flow to flush away the bacteria with the electric eye facets or the patients and staff have been hanging out at the Playboy Mansion.
Maybe they. use too little water. They always seems to turn off too soon You’re supposed to wash for a certain amount of time. It would be nice to know why.
If I remember from my limited microbiology legionella is heat sensitive. my experience with these types of faucets in airports etc. leads me to think that the water doesn’t get hot enough to kill the bacteria.... the water from these things always seems tepid too me.
Just a guess
Hackensack Hospital in NJ recently reported a higher than normal number of deaths from infection.
The report was not complete but it would seem that their switch to so called ‘green’ cleaning methods had something to do with this high number of deaths.
The local newsrag did no followup after reporting the information.
Foot controlled valves would have made more sense than any thing. No hand contact with the valves or faucet.
They couldn’t just recalibrate for longer flow times?
Now *there's* an idea more hospitals should try.
Know anyone in the plumbing / sanitation business?
Or anyone on a hospital chain's risk management staff?
Cheers!
They worked great when I was a machinist back in the '70s - none of us got other folks' grease on our hands from turning faucets. Now the cleanser dispenser levers were a different story...
Ping
That needs repeating. It may not be the faucets at all but some other part of the rush to be ‘green’. The new hand cleaner may be the culprit.
And foot activated faucets will be extremely popular if we ever get that killer super flu. Faucet handles are probably the nastiest thing in a bathroom.
They have been using these non-handle faucets for years. Why hasn’t this been found sooner? Every operating room does constant cultures of every faucet, surfaces, etc on regular intervals. Truth should have been exposed a long time ago.
Exactly what I was thinking but I don’t know if they have those same ‘magic’ faucets.
NJ has been using the water supply as a cudgel to keep suburban areas from developing. We have the so called Highlands Act which is supposedly all about clean water, blah blah blah.
Not the problem.
Legionella grows from 69F to 122F, and grows better near the upper end of this range. You have to get above 140F and maintain for some time to actually kill it.
Since 140F also quickly causes scalding, it isn't used much, for obvious reasons.
I wonder if they have inadequate chlorine residual?
Was there an unusually high incidence of Legionaire's disease among patients and hospital workers?
Well, that could very well be. Come to think of it, quite a few restaurants that I have been to, don’t even seem to have hot water in the restrooms, lately.
ping
One of the factories I worked at many years ago had a large circular sink with a foot bar that went around under the sink in the restrooms. It was pretty cool and worked great. I was always surprised more places didn’t use them.
LOL I'm a retired medical facility Maintenance Mechanic. I was the plumber, Electrician, HVAC, Boiler Operator, you name it. No joke though things like Staph were a concern.
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