Local Law 76 of 2019 adjusts LL 77/2015 (one of the original cooling tower documentation laws) to add requirements for submitting the date of cooling tower inspections to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene through their online portal. As per the New York State and New York City law, we will comply by issuing a special inspection report encompassing your Cooling Tower, Make-up Water Feed System, and Water Treatment Control Equipment. This separate report will then be updated on your NYS cooling tower registry and will count towards your annual certification.
Tower Water Is Certified To Complete Inspections
New York City and New York State require this testing every 90 days performed by a New York State approved ELAP certified lab, which is where all Tower Water inspectors will take your samples once it is collected.
Testing Processes For Legionella
An outbreak of Legionella can occur when water is not tested properly or regularly. All cooling tower systems must be tested for the presence of heterotrophic bacteria once a week. They must also be tested for the presence of Legionella at least once every 90 days. There are a couple of different ways to test for the presence of Legionella.
The Culture Method
This method takes 10 to 14 days to complete. The culture method can sometimes run into issues with being accurate because legionella colonies can be overgrown by other microbial flora that hides the presence of legionella colonies and make the test not reliable. This can particularly happen with water samples taken from warm water-containing mechanical equipment exposed to the environment such as fountains, cooling towers, and saunas.
The PCR Method
Also known as the polymerase chain reaction method, this method is much faster than the culture method in that it only takes a few hours to complete. It is a very useful method to test drinking water samples. The downside to this method is that it does not work well with water samples exposed to the environment. This is because dirt and debris can mask the presence of legionella in the water sample.
The DFA Method
While the above two methods work well when testing certain areas, the original method to test for legionella in both drinking water and environmental samples is the direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) method. The DFA method was developed by CDC in 1978 and has become more accurate by using monoclonal fluorescent antibodies that are specific for several legionella species that cause Legionnaires’ disease. The DFA method requires expertise which some legionella testing laboratories do not have. With Tower Water you do not have to worry about which test is right for you because we will take care of that for you.
How Many Inspections Are Needed
Five inspections will be needed for a tower that operates all year. Seasonal towers will need three to four inspections. As the law states, these inspections need to be completed within 90 days of each other, and this is because it will be impossible to schedule inspections exactly 90 days apart.
Get Inspected By The Experts
Get in contact with Tower Water to make sure your cooling tower inspections for legionella are completed promptly and properly. We cut no corners when it comes to taking care of legionella. We will develop a custom treatment and maintenance plans, as well as, independent legionella testing to best protect you from risk and liability. Reach out today by phone at (212) 729-9361 or schedule a consultation online.
