Water safety in your council home

Legionnaires’ disease is caused by inhaling small droplets of water containing the legionella bacteria. It can also attack other organs in the body. Even though it cannot be spread person to person, it is important we reduce the risk of infection to you and the public.

Legionella bacteria is common in natural rivers and lakes but not in household water systems with clean fresh water. Some households will naturally have bacteria and organisms in the water source which do not have any risk. However, in environments such as temperatures between 35 and 46 degrees, dirty or unused taps and showers, these bacteria can multiply.

Find out more about legionnaires' disease

You should:

• know the most common symptoms of legionnaires’ disease, such as high temperature, fever, chills, muscle pain, headache and coughs 
• let us know straight away if your doctor confirms you have legionnaires'
• make sure the hot water in your home stays hot, and the cold water is kept cold. Legionella bacteria thrive in temperatures between 35 and 46 degrees. It cannot survive above 60 degrees and stays dormant at 20 degrees or below
• make sure you do not change the settings on your boiler as these will be set by our contractor at the required temperatures 
• report a boiler breakdown or the water not heating properly as soon as possible
• use all the taps in your property at least once a week. If you don’t, slowly run your tap for five minutes once a week
• keep all your taps, showers and hoses clean and free from limescale
• flush all your taps for five minutes before using them if you have been away from your property for some time, and stay away from the taps to avoid any droplets

We will:

• get our certified contractor to carry out water risk assessments at all properties with stored water, or where water is used in shared areas
• carry out checks as needed to keep the water systems free from bacteria build up
• regularly flush outlets in our empty properties
• take monthly temperature readings at high risk points in shared areas
• sample water once a year at our independent living schemes for legionella bacteria
• make sure all communal storage water tanks are cleaned and disinfected yearly
• service and maintain thermostatic mixing valves in shared areas
• make sure we regularly clean all outlets in shared areas
• make sure our gas contractors complete services on domestic and shared boilers in line with the law