CAVITATION AS AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION TO FIGHT THE LEGIONELLA BACTERIA; AN INSIDIOUS THREAT TO WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS

Abstract

Providing clean and safe drinking water is essential to daily life. Achieving high efficiency in wastewater treatment is also very important to keep our environment clean and safe to live. Removing biological structures like different kind of bacteria can be a major problem in medical institutions such as hospitals etc. In particular, the emergence of Legionella in plumbing can cause significant danger. Like many other bacteria, also Legionella is widespread throughout the natural environment, but in higher concentrations it can be a deadly threat especially to people with weakened immune system (e.g. patients in hospitals). For this reason safety conditions for hospitals are more rigorous than for other institutions. There are some technological solutions to remove or kill bacteria of Legionelle, but they mostly work on the principle of adding chemicals, which affects both, human health and the environment, or involve heat (high temperature) shocks, which are energy consuming and burdensome for plumbing systems. New alternative solution is developed at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which will enable the destruction of the majority of the legionella bacteria prior to its entering into the local water supply system, e.g. into the hospital. It will operate on the principle of cavitation, without adding chemicals and with no heat load on the water.