Education

ASHRAE Guideline 12

Where practical in health care facilities, nursing homes and other high risk situations, cold water should be stored and distributed below 68°F, while hot water should be stored above 140°F and circulated with a minimum return temperature of 124°F. Where practical in other situations, hot water should be stored at temperatures of 120°F or above.

ASHRAE standard 188

Standard 188, Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems, will establish minimum Legionellosis risk management requirements for building water systems.The standard is intended for use by building owners and managers and those involved in the design, construction, installation, commissioning, operation, maintenance and service of centralized building water systems and components.

NSF/ANSI 61 Annex G (NSF 372)

Compliance date January 4, 2014. On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed legislation revising the definition of lead free within the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) for plumbing fittings and fixtures. The changes require that plumbing products meet a weighted average lead content of 0.25%. This is exactly the same percentage as required by California and Vermont in January 2010, Maryland in 2012 and Louisiana 2013.

How to Identify Lead-Free Certification Marks

Ensure that a product is lead-free by verifying its certification by one of several ANSI-accredited, third-party certification bodies. The EPA offers a downloadable resource to help identify lead-free certification marks for drinking water systems and plumbing materials, from determining the newest lead-free requirements to where to find the certification marks on the products.

Viega offers a comprehensive Water Quality course in several U.S. cities.

Part of the Viega Water Quality initiative, water quality seminars are offered throughout the United States and are co-presented by Viega Technical Managers and Tim Keane, consultant with Legionella Risk Management Inc. The full-day courses cover case studies of Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks, Legionella guidelines and standards from a liability perspective and design factors that impact pathogen control.