Water Restrictions At An Assisted Living Facility After Two Contract Legionnaire’s Disease
Apr 25, 2019, 10:49 PM
TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — An assisted living facility in Taylorsville has implemented a no tap water policy, at the recommendation of the health department, after two of its residents contracted legionnaire’s disease.
“The last month has been… very unsettling,” said Norma Soderborg Harris, a resident at Legacy House of Taylorsville.
There’s no question living without running tap water can make life difficult. Yet, Harris can think of no better place to be than at the facility.
“I love it here. It is to me the perfect place. If you have to be in a facility, it’s here.”
People at Legacy House have been using only bottled water for more than a week. #Legionella bacterium is found in water and spreads by breathing in mist. One resident told me she warmed up water bottles in a microwave in order to take a shower. Latest on @KSL5TV at 10pm pic.twitter.com/3oxgycSAp4
— Matt Rascon (@MattRasconNews) April 26, 2019
On Thursday signs hanging in rooms, bathrooms and above drinking fountains warned residents not to use the water. For more than a week the staff has provided water bottles for drinking, washing and bathing.
“We can’t shower,” Harris said. “We can’t do anything that uses water.”
“We’ve had to ask for a lot of patience from them,” Executive Director Nathan Cluff said. “This is their home. This is where they live.”
In early April, Cluff says one of his 80 assisted living residents contracted legionnaire’s disease. Then last Tuesday, the Salt Lake County
Health Department notified Cluff that a second resident had caught the disease. That’s when the facility was advised to stop all tap water use.
“We want to make sure that all of our residents are safe,”Cluff said, “that they aren’t showering first and foremost in water that could be contaminated and breathing in that vaporized air.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease comes from the bacterium legionella, which is found in water but can only spread by breathing in mist that’s contaminated with the bacteria.
Symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath and fever.
Health officials tell me this sort of case at an assisted living facility is not uncommon. @KSL5TV https://t.co/mhfhPL3HXI
— Matt Rascon (@MattRasconNews) April 26, 2019
“It basically shuts down your lungs so you can’t breathe,” said Steve Madsen, owner of Legionella Specialties. Legacy House hired the company last week to remediate the legionella bacterium from its facility.
“We’re looking for spots where the water would be turned into aerosol, like a shower head, a fountain, a hot tub. It can even be a drinking fountain or a sink in a room,” Madsen said.
Seven other residents have been tested for the disease out of an abundance of caution. But the results have come back negative.
“Out of an abundance of precaution we’re going to implement these water restrictions just to make sure we keep people safe until the problem’s been remediated,” Cluff said.
Until then, it’s an inconvenience that Harris seems willing to live with.
“Hope it’s over with soon,” she said.
Even after she says she warmed up water bottles in the microwave in order to take a shower.
“I can’t say it’s been happy experiences, but it’s been a learning experience,” she said. “They’ve done everything they can to help us to do it.”
Health officials say the case at Legacy House of Taylorsville is not unusual for these type of facilities. Madsen says he expects the facility will be completely disinfected by Friday morning.
