Issue 1, 2021

Growth of Legionella during COVID-19 lockdown stagnation

Abstract

While “avoiding stagnation” has been the mantra of many building water quality experts, the foundational support for how this terminology is used in peer-reviewed publications and building water management guidelines is not overly convincing. With COVID-19 lockdowns and subsequent reopening, the concern that extended stagnation will trigger increased incidence (or even an epidemic) of legionellosis has been widely raised in the news and social media. Here, we provide a perspective on four simple questions to a complex topic, with hope that it encourages a broader dialogue and more critical assessment of assumptions and communication strategies surrounding stagnation and Legionella growth.

Graphical abstract: Growth of Legionella during COVID-19 lockdown stagnation

Article information

Article type
Frontier
Submitted
05 Sept. 2020
Accepted
31 Okt. 2020
First published
03 Nov. 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2021,7, 10-15

Growth of Legionella during COVID-19 lockdown stagnation

W. J. Rhoads and F. Hammes, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2021, 7, 10 DOI: 10.1039/D0EW00819B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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