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SUMMARY:EESS talk on "Managing unwanted bacterial colonization and growth 
 in drinking water building plumbing systems "
DTSTART:20191001T121500
DTEND:20191001T130000
DTSTAMP:20260531T024810Z
UID:8809cdfae4a8a169d8b7c25183a8cfcbf31e3dc76cf0f4f6132ef4a4
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Frederik Hammes\, Group Leader\, Drinking Water Microbiolog
 y\, Environmental Microbiology Dept\, EAWAG - leads the Drinking Water Mic
 robiology group at Eawag (The Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science a
 nd Technology). The group’s research focuses on the microbial ecology an
 d microbial dynamics of drinking water treatment and distribution systems 
 from source-to-tap. They specialize in the development and application of 
 quantitative\, standardized and automated applications of flow cytometry f
 or drinking water analysis\, to replace conventional culture-based approac
 hes. They furthermore focus on understanding microbial biofilm growth on m
 aterials in contact with drinking water in building plumbing systems\, and
  mitigating the consequences thereof.\nAbstract:\nComplex microbial biofil
 ms assemble in drinking water plumbing systems and consequently affect the
  microbial quality of the water. Such biofilm assembly is predominantly go
 verned by the ecological processes of dispersal and selection\, which in t
 urn is driven by the manner in which building plumbing systems are designe
 d\, constructed and operated.  This presentation will firstly revisit som
 e of the basic concepts of biofilm formation and development from the pers
 pective of building plumbing systems. This includes nutrient-based selecti
 on due to carbon migration from the pipe-material\, aperiodic inorganic nu
 trient supply from the water as a result of stagnation and flushing\, and 
 how temperature affects selection and growth. As a specific example\, the 
 presentation will focus on the organism Legionella pneumophila\, how if co
 ntaminates buildings\, and how it can be managed. L. pneumophila is an opp
 ortunistic pathogenic bacteria causes Pontiac fever and Legionnaires disea
 se. During the last decade\, reported cases of Legionnaires disease increa
 sed continuously in Switzerland\, with currently >500 cases per year\, of 
 which about 8% is fatal. On building plumbing level\, Legionella-contamina
 tion is a man-made problem\, which is therefore entirely manageable if pro
 perly understood and correctly diagnosed. This presentation will show data
  from a multi-year case study with in excess of 1000 samples from a single
  building. We show that straightforward technical interventions can disrup
 t the ecological niche of L. pneumophila in buildings\, and we argue for i
 ncreased monitoring and transparent communication on a national level to a
 n mitigate the risks to end-users.
LOCATION:GR C0 01 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==GR%20C0%2001
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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