Water is essential for our existence and to ensure clean and safe drinking water is at our disposal, we rely on a dependable supply and distribution system for its continuous delivery. The ease of receiving quality water to our homes and businesses is something we take for granted.
Every day we turn on the shower, wash, cook and clean with the general expectation the water is pure and free of natural and unnatural contaminants. Unfortunately, some regions of the United States have experienced a compromised drinking water supply—contaminated both chemically and biologically.
Of most concern to us, and among the most threatening, are harmful bacteria—such as Legionella, mycobacteria and pseudomonas aeruginosa—that live in our drinking water distribution systems that supply water to our homes, workplaces and schools.
Adding to this concern is the steady decline of the aging public water systems around the United States and the world. This decaying infrastructure provides an increasingly hospitable environment for these water threats to not only survive, but thrive. Despite these threats, gaps in the underlying science, enormous investment hurdles and lack of political willpower all conspire to leave the public exposed to significant health risks.
Recognizing these challenges—the need for leadership and concern over the direction of certain public health policies—longtime advocates of initiatives to prevent Legionnaires’ disease have decided to take action. They are focused on significantly impacting and shaping strategies to protect the public health from the threat of water-borne pathogens (a bacterium, virus, or other micro-organism that can cause disease).
The Alliance to Prevent Legionnaires’ Disease is a non-profit coalition of health advocates, health providers, building engineers, scientists, water treatment experts and manufacturers. We are actively working to educate residents, building owners, policy makers, media representatives, water system managers and professionals, and government officials about the facts surrounding water quality, effective strategies for addressing the root causes of Legionnaires’, and better protecting public health.
By sharing peer-reviewed literature, along with national and international government agency policies and guidelines, we are working to dispel the myths about what causes Legionnaires’ disease and—more importantly—promoting the tools to help protect the public against future outbreaks. We also seek to provide information to patients and high-risk populations so they can better understand the disease and have information to ask the right questions.
The good news is that incidences of Legionnaires’ disease can be substantially reduced. Although Legionella bacteria are naturally occurring in our environment and travel into our public water systems, programs can be put in place to:
With the recent and tragic events in Flint, Michigan and New York, the importance of getting prevention efforts right requires concerted leadership and financial support to assure our public water systems consistently and reliably deliver clean and safe water to the homes we live in, and the buildings where we work and socialize. We can and must put the right plan in place to help prevent future outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease. The information contained on this site is intended to help lead the way.
The Alliance to Prevent Legionnaires’ Disease has endeavored to assemble a useful and balanced collection of resource information to facilitate understanding about the sources and control of Legionella. The materials posted on this website include the work product of third parties as to which the Alliance to Prevent Legionnaires’ Disease makes no warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, with regard to the content, quality, performance, transmission, or any other aspect of the information referenced on this web site. The Alliance to Prevent Legionnaires’ Disease shall not be liable for any damages, including consequential damages, in connection with, or arising in any manner out of, the providing of the information offered here. By using this website, you are accepting and agreeing to these terms and conditions in full. ©2017 PreventLegionnaires.org
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by aspirating or inhaling small droplets of water contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Symptoms include fever, headache, aching joints and muscles, diarrhea, fatigue, loss of appetite, cough, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, chills and chest pain. Consult your doctor with questions and at the first sign of symptoms.
