Just a quick post on this one. Ran across it today, but the mans death occurred last year.

In an online article on the GetReading.co.uk website there’s a story about a man who, authorities say died from Legionnaires disease contracted in his home. Seems as though the man died from Legionnaires disease caused by Legionnela bacteria that occurred when limescale deposits in his residential water system allowed water to stand and bacteria growth to form.

Legionella has long been an issue in the HVAC trade. Any place that moisture can build up can cause bacteria to grow and legionella is one of those. However, it tends to be more discussed in industrial/commercial HVAC systems and rarely (if ever) discussed as being caused by residential hot water heater system.

Now, the details are a bit sketchy, but it’s scary. The findings of an inquest identified that limescale deposits in the water system (heater, shower heads etc) allowed water to “pool” when the fixtures weren’t in use. This pooling allowed bacteria to grow and that’s how it infected this man.

You can read the article here.

If this is true (and the facts seem to support it), it makes maintaining your hot water system and eliminating lime scale buildup even more crucial.

What are your thoughts? Ever hear of this before?