1. Ross Jones, Lyn Pope & Richard Bentham Hindmarsh Water Treatment
PREVALENCE AND NATURE OF LEGIONELLA CONTAMINATION IN AGED CARE FACILITIES IN AUSTRALIA
Ross Jones, Lyn Pope & Richard Bentham
Hindmarsh Water Treatment

2. Review of Data 2013 / 15 Review of data:
Water sampling at 124 aged care facilities
SA, QLD and NSW
November October 2015.
757 water samples
Legionella by culture at AWQC

3. Distribution of positive Legionella Counts (cfu / mL)

4. Distribution of all test results

5. Legionella species demographic

6. Percentage of positive sites

7. Influence of routine chlorination

8. Summary
One third of aged care facilities showed contamination by Legionella species over the past 22 months.
Positive results predominantly non-pneumophila Legionella species.
Annual disinfection and continuous dosing of chlorine effective in reducing both number Legionella detections and Legionella concentrations.
Other interventions such as routine flushing of outlets and good preventative maintenance could further improve on these results.
Stagnation, building works associate with positives.