Phigenics Responds to New York City Legionella Outbreak

Phigenics is working in New York City to assist in meeting the Health Commissioner's requirements for building owners and managers to obtain the services of experienced ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188 environmental consultants in response to the outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease in the South Bronx.

The New York City Health Commissioner, in response to the outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease in the South Bronx, issued a prescriptive requirement to "Obtain the services of an environmental consultant with demonstrated experience performing disinfection in accordance with current standard industry protocols including, but not limited to, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 188P and Cooling Technology Institute Guidelines WTB-148."

Phigenics is a leading independent environmental consultancy providing guidance on building water management programs according to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188. Dr. William McCoy, Phigenics' chief technology officer, was recently quoted by The New York Times as saying, "Every building in New York City should have a water-management program to protect the occupants in the building from disease and injury, but most buildings do not."

Often, water treatment of cooling towers and other building water systems is ineffective because of technical and commercial aspects about which building owners are unaware. Therefore, experienced independent guidance and consultation are necessary. McCoy served as a voting member of the ANSI/ASHRAE Standards Project Committee 188 and authored the 2005 book Preventing Legionellosis published by the International Water Association.

Phigenics provides unbiased confirmation that water treatment products and services have been applied correctly (verification) and that the water treatment applied is effective (validation), as required in the Commissioner's Order and by ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188. Phigenics assists hundreds of building owners and their facility managers in healthcare, hospitality, education, retail, government, food and beverage manufacturing and other industries to establish preventative processes that effectively manage their building water systems. Phigenics' clients include more than 70 Veterans Health Administration facilities, Mayo Clinic, Walmart, the National Security Agency, Pernod Ricard, and multiple state and private universities.

Source: Phigenics, LLC