Manuel Lamúa, Secretary General of the Spanish Association of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Companies (ANEFRYC), has sent a letter to Felipe Rivera, President of the Spanish Association of Pest Control Companies (ANECPLA), due to some statements made to the Europa Press agency where he pointed out refrigeration towers as “the most dangerous installations in the development of the legionellosis bacteria”.

 

In the same document, it is reminded that the Royal Decree 865/2003, July 4th, which establishes the hygienic-sanitary criteria for legionellosis prevention and control (BOE n. 171, July 18th), some obligatory maintenance measures for these equipments are considered. Although ANEFRYC agrees with ANECPLA in that it is always advisable to remember the importance of monitoring the state and maintenance of the installations, it is not necessary to cause social alarm around its use, as the cleaning and disinfection of the installations, and the dosage of disinfectant products to which its article refer, are common practice in the installations and all manufacturers supply the appropriate maintenance treatment and advice.

 

In the said letter, it is informed that in order to have a legionellosis outbreak associated witth a cooling tower or evaporative condenser, a highly improbable chain of events should happen and all events have to be related and follow one another. In order to prevent Legionellosis risk, it is enough to break that chain of events in any of the links. In both outbreaks, which took place during the year and had media impact, the origin was located in the tap water without any involvent of the towers, reveals the association’s press release. Lastly, it is remembered that recently ANEFRYC has received the support of the Ministry of Industry’s General Management and ICAEN, Catalan Energy Institute, which recognize the fundamental role of evaporative refrigeration equipment in the industry’s energy efficiency.