This is comprehensive technical conference developed to assess the management of regrowth of pathogens in plumbing and distribution of drinking water, with emphasis on Legionella pneumophila, and provide best available practical recommendations to water suppliers and facilities to assist resolution. It is scheduled for April, 2017 in Baltimore, MD. Several technologies have been utilized in different circumstances with variable success. The conference will assemble experts in all of the key technical areas to provide essential practical information that can be applied to reduce risks to the large populations at risk.
Numerous microorganisms are known to regrow after the treatment of drinking water and then colonize distribution, plumbing and cooling water systems. Among these are: Mycobacterium avium, Legionella pneumophila and non pneumophila strains, and Acanthamoeba polyphaga. These and other microorganisms (e.g., protozoa, including Naegleria fowleri) colonize biofilms where they can proliferate by being protected from disinfectant residuals. Legionella pneumophila in particular has been shown to be a significant public health concern. Numerous incidents involving thousands of cases of legionella-associated respiratory disease and thousands of deaths have been reported in the U.S. and Europe since the first identified legionellosis outbreak was detected in Philadelphia in 1976. A portion of legionella cases have been directly associated with distributed drinking water. Legionellosis became a reportable disease in the U.S. in 2001. A recent Centers for Disease Control Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report for 2011-2012 demonstrated that water related legionellosis is the most significant waterborne disease in the USA and also in other developed countries. The report listed 431 cases of 10 microbial diseases. Twenty-one of the 32 reported outbreaks were caused by legionella resulting in 111 cases and 14 deaths, and it was the only cause of deaths among the reported waterborne outbreaks. Since the implementation of the updated Safe Drinking Water Act regulations in 1982, there has been a general decline in reported traditional waterborne disease outbreaks, but an increase of those associated with water distribution rather than source water treatment. The conference is appropriate and necessary because even though the continuing periodic reports of legionella disease outbreaks associated with hospitals and cooling systems attract national publicity, it is clear that the impacted communities of water suppliers, building facilities, state regulators, health care, and plumbing officials are still lacking adequate information and advice on the physical plumbing water conditions, microbial monitoring and detection, and prevention and mitigation opportunities that can reduce risks to the public. The federal water regulatory issue has not been resolved partly because of some statutory and regulatory complexities. To maximize the impact and audience and benefits to be achieved by the conference and the valuable practical information it produces, a no cost webinar will follow, as well as publication of a monograph that will provide the collected information in a user accessible format for long term future reference and access.