Termorens AS has worked with the fight against legionella for many years, and is today considered to be one of the leading players in Norway in the area. Now they are launching the product LegioTerm.
They provide all kinds of methods to fight the bacterium, but more and more people have now become convinced that anodic oxidation is both an effective and affordable alternative. On the basis of this, the company has in recent years developed its own product which is now produced in Norway.
Many years of experience
– The new product LegioTerm is based on the many experiences we have had over many years, and makes it easy for both us and the customer to follow, Andreassen says.
He points out that the systems have their own measurement of the conductivity in the water, which continuously signals to the electrode what strength it should have.
– Should a cloud of legionella bacteria enter from the main water line, you can easily increase the strength of the system and run a cleaner directly instead of chlorination, hot water flushing or other methods that are expensive and have a short duration of action. Conductivity can change with the seasons, so in this way the facilities will always work optimally, he explains.
A thorough log of temperatures, pressures, amperes, etc. one year back can also be easily displayed on screen with just a few keystrokes. The systems can also be connected to the SD systems and can, if desired, be controlled remotely via the network.
These are solutions that more and more people are pressing on their breasts, and several facilities have already been installed in the new National Library in Oslo, in municipalities, swimming pools and old people’s homes.
“Several consultants have already begun to describe the product for preventing legionella as these do not require any kind of chemical or other additives to the water,” he adds.
Collaboration with German company
The predecessor to the system was developed in 2007, through a collaboration with the manufacturer of Anodix in Germany, and it has since sold more than 500 plants of this type in Norway – most with a service agreement with TermoRens.
– But the collaboration with the German supplier, which has a simpler product, continues, Andreassen can tell.
He claims that the biggest problem in the market is a lack of knowledge about exactly what works and does not work, and therefore uncertainty in relation to which method to choose.
Rumors of anodic oxidation
As for the method of anodic oxidation, there were rumors for a while that this method could destroy stainless steel heaters because the small salt added from the municipality was converted to hypochlorite.
This claim came after a leak in a couple of new water heaters where this method was accidentally installed.
– It turned out to be a leak in the weld, but unfortunately some of the rumor is still circulating. Had I been able to dissolve stainless steel with a method where water without additives had done the job, I would probably have been a billionaire and run something else, says Andreassen, who has previously been director of the Danish company Blücher, one of Europe’s leading producers of stainless steel drainage systems with subsidiaries and sales offices throughout Europe.
Several methods
TermoRens supplies and works with anodic oxidation, copper, silver and chlorine dioxide. He says that all methods work, as they remove the bacteria. But at the same time points out that they have their strengths and weaknesses:
– When using copper / silver, the heavy metals are constantly added to the water. The salesmen here who say that “there is almost nothing” are lying. With almost nothing, this would not work. There are restrictions on how much you can add. In the EU, this is now almost completely out of the question. In addition, it is by far the most expensive method and which can cause problems around the facilities in that they can stain porcelain, lay on ceramic discs and autoclaves etc – and not least store in the human body.
Lots of dangerous carelessness
– Chlorine dioxide is a mixture of 50/50 chlorine and hypochlorite. An environmental bomb in itself that requires special handling and storage. There is a lot of dangerous carelessness here, he claims.-
– There is a limit to how much you can dose, and it decreases in effect at higher temperatures. This is the method that corrodes stainless steel the most, but not many people are aware of it. An expensive method as you constantly have to add chemicals.
Anodic oxidation removes the bacteria by splitting oxygen and hydrogen in a chamber. Turn the little salt in the water into a little hypochlorite, which in turn can break down biofilm, he explains.
– Larger plants can be somewhat more expensive to procure, but this is quickly recouped in the form of less expensive service and no addition of chemicals.
What about hot water flushing?
– We still see that does not work, and this is also documented on several teams and does not recommend alone. The bacteria are protected in biofilm, rust coating and in the bottom pans of water heaters, and return quickly. As a rule, you also do not have enough hot water or high enough temperature outside the plant to handle this. A method that has wasted many millions of kroner on!
Source: VVSFORUM
