School District U46 should consider quarterly testing of its cooling towers for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, according to recommendations by the district’s water treatment company after the bacteria was found in three buildings last September, prompting the shutdown of two schools and an administration center.
But district officials said Monday they are considering even more rigorous testing for Legionella in light of the incident.
While he confirmed that a more robust schedule was being considered, Plant Operations Director Christopher Allen said there was no timeline for when such a decision might be made.
Eastview Middle School in Bartlett, Larkin High School in Elgin and the Educational Services Center that houses two alternative secondary programs in Elgin were all closed for three business days on Sept. 23 after higher than normal levels of the bacteria were found in the outdoor, closed-water cooling towers.
Other recommendations in the Sept. 22 letter from the Essential Water Technologies company to the district include tower cleaning and disinfection in the spring and another round of disinfection in the mid-summer, according to a copy obtained via a Freedom of Information request.
It cost the district about $10,000 to test its cooling towers for Legionella, according to Allen.
The district buys the required chemicals to clean the towers and Essential Water Technologies administers them as part of the district’s water treatment program.
The district typically checks its 19 cooling towers for operation and efficiency purposes each September, removing any algae and ensuring the towers are working properly, district officials said.
For the first time, the district included a test for Legionella this fall.
The district entered into a three-year, roughly $48,000 contract with Essential Water Technologies in mid 2014, according to district documents.
Those records call for Legionella testing to take place twice a year, but district officials confirmed that the first test done for the bacteria was the one in September that prompted the school closings.
District spokeswoman Mary Fergus said the district did not proceed with Legionella testing until after new industry standards were released this past summer.
As it currently stands, Allen said future testing will likely take place before the school year, so as to minimize any disruption should another too-high level be found.
All the district’s cooling tower sites were disinfected after the bacteria was found last September, and the three affected buildings reopened on Sept. 28.
Legionnaires’ disease occurs when the Legionella bacteria infect the lungs and causes pneumonia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It can also cause something akin to a mild case of the flu that is known as Pontiac fever, according to the centers.
Cooling towers, used to provide air conditioning to buildings, contain a lot of heat and can be vibrant breeding ground for waterborne bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Individuals catch the disease when bacteria-laden droplets are breathed in.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimated that about 25,000 cases of Legionnaires’ occur annually, but that the fatality rate of 15 percent is similar to other forms of pneumonia.
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