Case Studies
Experience gained in 25 countries worldwide and throughout the UK is brought to bear, now only within London. Our objective is to build an in-depth knowledge of the water quality issues in London and apply that to the challenges faced by our clients in their management of water systems.
Provision of training courses for Responsible Persons, Authorised Persons and Competent Persons in London venues, such as Croydon, Docklands, Euston, Heathrow, Holborn, Southwark, etc;
Cooling tower legionellosis risk assessments eg for a university in central London and for a local authority’s central London market;
Serving a firm of London solicitors as an expert witness in a case regarding the use of flexible hoses in water systems by an NHS Trust against their PFI hospital provider;
Expert advice to solicitors regarding high Legionella counts allegedly arising from poor water system installation by the sub-contractor on a new sheltered housing complex, which led to the successful defence against a £300,000 legal claim;
Investigation of a “smelly pond”, on behalf on an NHS Trust, which proved to be due to a leaking ground source heating/cooling system and resulted in the recovery of £1 million from their PFI hospital provider and deflection of the Environment Agency to the polluter;
Successfully challenging a water utility company on behalf of a meat pie factory in London regarding water and effluent discharge costs, resulting in cost reductions and refunds;
Investigation of an outbreak of legionnaires’ disease associated with a spa pool, in which four people caught the infection, due to management and disinfection failures;
Advice following contamination of renal dialysate due to overdosing of chlorine dioxide and failures in reverse osmosis membrane disinfection techniques, to prevent re-occurrence;
Development of Written Control Schemes for cooling towers and Water Safety Plans in response to HSE improvement notices;
Troubleshooting high Legionella counts in a hospital hot water system;
Engineering risk assessment of intensive care unit as an input to Pseudomonas aeruginosa risk assessment;
Troubleshooting high Pseudomonas aeruginosa counts in a cancer ward and in a spa pool;
Troubleshooting health problems of employees using the swimming pool at a major bank’s HQ;
Development of a scalding protection strategy based on scalding risk assessment, rather than blind installation of thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs) on every outlet;
Acting as Authorising Engineer (Water) for London acute, mental health and community NHS Trusts, London boroughs and Facilities Management companies which serve them, including audit, appraisals and independent advice, with participation in Water Safety Groups;
Acting as Authorising Engineer (Water) for a London private hospital from feasibility stage through to operation, commencing with interaction with the design teams;
Review of so-called legionellosis risk assessments conducted by others, transforming their recommendations from “as low as possible”, using a balance of risk and cost, into schemes based on the principle of “As Low As Reasonably Practicable” (ALARP);
Service on working groups for official guidance such as Health Technical Memoranda.
Presentations at HEFMA, IHEEM and other seminars and conferences in London.