A series of Legionnaires’ Disease cases that surfaced in a Wisconsin hospital has been traced to a mood-enhancing water wall installation located inside the facility, which raises questions about whether such displays can actually compromise the health of susceptible patients.
Eight people came down with symptoms consistent with the disease, with several of the victims having medical conditions that raised the risk of infection. Although everyone eventually recovered, some required extensive hospitalization.
The incident marks the second recorded epidemic in a medical-related facility that was relayed to its victims via a water wall sculpture.
The features in and of themselves don’t pose a threat, and have become popular in the industry due to the beneficial effect the aesthetic of moving water has on patients’ emotions.
The real danger comes from the ability of the water to be a vector for disease. With Legionella, the infectious agent responsible for the disease, water vapor–the type that might be generated with splashing water, proves effective in transmitting the illness.
Once the hospital discovered that the water wall was causing the illness, it was immediately switched off. However, they could use it again, but only if they took adequate precaution in the future.
Some actions might include installing a UV disinfectant light, or an ozone generator, both of which are effective at destroying water-borne microbes and organisms without significant processing of water; in both types of disinfection, the active agent overwhelms the organism–by light, as in the UV unit, or through oxidation. Both are scientifically proven, effective, and require minimal investment.
The Legionnaires’ case in Wisconsin represent only a miniscule fraction of the nearly 3,000 people who are diagnosed with the disease in the USA, and those are only the cases that are confirmed. The fatality rate hangs at around 10%.
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