How To Clean Shower Head To Prevent Legionnaires Disease

Take apart the shower head and remove all detachable parts including the filter screen.

How to clean shower head to prevent legionnaires disease. Ideally you should be descaling and disinfecting your shower heads every three months or more often if scale is visible. The slime protects the germs from the chlorine in the water which is meant to eliminate them. Stagnant water favours legionella growth. It doesn t take long and it could potentially be a life saver given the evidence from the public health england investigations. Simply add your showerhead to a saucepan of vinegar and bring it to a gentle simmer.

Bacteria such as legionella will multiply in temperatures between 20 and 45 degrees celsius but is killed once the temperature goes above 60 degrees celsius. Combine 3 cups of very hot water and 1 cup of white vinegar in a large bowl. Bacteria is dormant at temperatures below 20 c but can still survive. By victoria franks acop l8 hsg274 legionella water zetasafe. Regular cleaning of the shower is important.

Use an old toothbrush or bottle brush to scrub the showerhead inside and out. To kill any organisms detach the shower head and run water at 60 c for a minimum of 2 minutes on a regular basis legionella bacteria breed at temperatures between 20 45 c. Clean and disinfect the shower head regularly to prevent the build up of limescale minerals and other residue. Protect the fixture s finish with soft rags or towels while you re working. In tests 30 per cent of shower heads contained mycobacterium avium a bug linked to lung disease.

To prevent any additional spread of infection and cases of legionnaires disease from popping up the hospital decided to install medical grade water filters on all of the hospital s shower heads and taps. Furthermore if you have been away on holiday run your shower for a few minutes before using it. If the scale deposits are visible we recommend you carry out the following. To reduce the risk you should remove dead legs dead ends in pipe work flush out infrequently used outlets including showerheads and taps at least weekly. Reattach the showerhead to the shower arm using the wrench.

5 ways to prevent legionella in your shower. Before use carefully flushing the shower through with hot water can also help. Remove the shower head from the pipe. Put the showerhead in the vinegar water and let it sit for 30 minutes. Place the shower heads and hoses in a bucket and cover with neat solution of showerhead plus.