How To Clean Shower Head To Prevent Legionnaires Disease

Use an old toothbrush or bottle brush to scrub the showerhead inside and out.

How to clean shower head to prevent legionnaires disease. Clean and disinfect the shower head regularly to prevent the build up of limescale minerals and other residue. Before use carefully flushing the shower through with hot water can also help. The slime protects the germs from the chlorine in the water which is meant to eliminate them. Protect the fixture s finish with soft rags or towels while you re working. Stagnant water favours legionella growth.

By victoria franks acop l8 hsg274 legionella water zetasafe. Combine 3 cups of very hot water and 1 cup of white vinegar in a large bowl. Remove the shower head from the pipe. Place the shower heads and hoses in a bucket and cover with neat solution of showerhead plus. 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.

Doctor who runs his shower for 20 minutes every time he comes back from holiday says this habit could save you from life threatening legionnaires disease. Wear rubber gloves an apron and safety glasses. If the scale deposits are visible we recommend you carry out the following. 5 ways to prevent legionella in your shower. 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.

It doesn t take long and it could potentially be a life saver given the evidence from the public health england investigations. Furthermore if you have been away on holiday run your shower for a few minutes before using it. Simply add your showerhead to a saucepan of vinegar and bring it to a gentle simmer. In tests 30 per cent of shower heads contained mycobacterium avium a bug linked to lung disease. Bacteria is dormant at temperatures below 20 c but can still survive.

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. 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. Dismantle the shower head remove any limescale other debris and disinfect it on a regular basis. Within a few minutes the limescale should start to dissolve. Regular cleaning of the shower is important.