Legionnaire's Disease

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Cooling towers and Legionnaires’ disease

Cooling towers contain large amounts of water and are potential breeding grounds for Legionella bacteria if they are not properly disinfected and maintained. Water within cooling towers is heated via heat exchange, which is an ideal environment for Legionella heat-loving bacteria to grow. Legionnaires’ disease(https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/about/index.html) can be acquired when an individual breathes in water droplets containing Legionella bacteria. The disease was named in 1976, when American Legion members who attended a Philadelphia convention, suffered from an unusual pneumonia (lung infection). Outbreaks due to Legionnaires’ disease from contaminated cooling towers still occur today