Inline disinfection system shows its mettle

Horne Engineering, a specialist in the design, development, and manufacture of thermostatic valves for mixing and temperature control applications, says that while a number of potential solutions for reducing the incidence and risk of pathogenic colonisation of water systems have been tried, each has had its ‘own associated disadvantages’. Here the company’s marketing manager, Hannah Berry, considers some of the solutions tried to date, before focusing on the company’s recent development of its own solution – the Horne In-Line Thermal Disinfection Unit (ILTDU) – which was ‘highly commended’ in the Product Innovation category at October’s IHEEM 2016 Awards. A case study on the technology’s recent use at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester illustrates how the ILTDU’s installation resolved a water hygiene issue involving a shower outlet contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

In late 2011/early 2012, four babies died in neonatal care in Northern Ireland (HEJ – May and June 2012). The babies were infected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a ubiquitous, opportunistic pathogen (with intrinsically advanced antibiotic-resistance mechanisms) of environmental origin, but favouring moist surfaces. A subsequent investigation into the fatalities identified hospital water systems and taps as potential reservoirs for the bacteria. Attention has since focused on tap fittings and the last few metres of the water system for its potential to host pathogenic microorganisms.

Retrograde contamination