THE GIST
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented breweries with a bewildering list of new issues to worry about—now, add Legionnaires’ disease to the roster. The sometimes-deadly lung infection is caused by the presence of Legionella bacteria in stagnant water, a potential threat when breweries are shut down or operating at reduced capacity, leaving water in pipes, tanks, evaporative coolers, and draft systems for longer periods of time.
As Reuters reported, the absence of flowing chlorinated water coupled with temperature fluctuations in shuttered commercial buildings are prime conditions for Legionella growth. Thankfully, good sanitation practices during times of shutdown or reduced operations will mitigate breweries’ risk for developing the bacteria inside their buildings.
WHY IT MATTERS
Legionnaires’ disease is spread through the inhalation of water vapor containing Legionella bacteria, which occurs naturally in freshwater. It is not spread by drinking the water. Most outbreaks begin in high-capacity commercial buildings like hospitals, hotels, nursing homes, and schools. A notable 2015 outbreak at a veterans’ home in Quincy, Illinois sickened dozens of residents and employees and resulted in 13 deaths.
Known incidents of the disease have risen steadily since 2000. State health departments reported 10,000 cases of Legionnaires’ disease to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2018, though the agency believes the disease is underdiagnosed and the actual number is likely higher. According to the CDC, one in 10 people infected with the disease will die.
Under normal circumstances, breweries wouldn’t be at significant risk for breeding Legionella bacteria, as chlorinated water flows regularly through pipes and employees clean and sanitize areas like draft lines and water fountains. Still, occasional cases do crop up: in 2013, Warsteiner Brewery in Warstein, Germany, was briefly closed to the public after Legionella was found to be present in its wastewater.
Whether a brewery contains the necessary conditions for Legionella development depends on its construction, says Jessica Smith, an epidemiologist with the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). Relevant factors include “the design of the system and the plumbing that’s part of the brewing process.” The presence of cooling towers, swamp coolers, and other machines that aerosolize water vapor increase that risk, she says.
With breweries’ taprooms and production areas offline or operating at reduced rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk is compounded. Breweries should make sure to perform regular sanitation—especially during dormancy.
“Any brewery currently shut down is potentially at risk if that water is stagnant,” says Neil Witte, owner of Craft Quality Solutions, a beer quality consulting service. “Flush your system periodically. Think about all the points where you have any type of water supply in your brewery, including your taproom, and run the water for a bit.”
The vast majority of American breweries are currently producing less beer than usual, and almost all have closed their taprooms as a result of stay-at-home orders. A member survey by the South Carolina Brewers Guild, for example, found 35% of craft breweries have ceased production entirely, with 60% reducing production. In New York, 48% stopped production altogether in early-to-mid April, while 43% had reduced production. In Texas, 67% have reduced production. Reductions in normal water flow increase the potential for harmful bacteria to thrive in stagnant pipes.
The CDC in 2017 released a 36-page guide to developing a water management program to reduce Legionella growth and spread in commercial buildings. It directs facilities managers to pay special attention to areas including water heaters and filters, hot and cold water storage tanks, showerheads, hoses, eyewash stations, ice machines, and more. On April 29, the CDC also issued reopening guidance for businesses that includes specific suggestions for getting building water systems back online. Pipe manufacturing company Aquatherm’s 10-minute video overview has suggestions for how to create a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan to guard against future Legionella development.
Witte says sanitation procedures that breweries conduct to kill beer spoilage bacteria like Pediococcus and Lactobacillus will also be effective against Legionella.
He advises breweries to drain and sanitize any half-full hot liquor tanks, which are often filled with dechlorinated water. The same goes for draft systems, which breweries may have packed with dechlorinated water during a shutdown. Even if employees blow water out of the draft system, small droplets likely remain and the lines should therefore be thoroughly sanitized. Pipe loops that could collect stagnant water should be flushed and drained, and sinks and water fountains in taprooms should be run and sanitized.
He adds that even breweries that are still producing beer and selling it to go might overlook portions of their operation that are offline, including areas of the taproom and draft systems.
“Keep systems active, even if you’re not using them,” Witte says. “Regularly clean every system that could possibly be cleaned. I wouldn’t let it go any longer than a month, if not more frequently.”
Words by Kate Bernot