Report Legionella

On 19 July 2017, the Ordinance on Evaporative Cooling Systems, Cooling Towers and Wet Separators (42nd Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act - 42nd BImSchV) was promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette (Federal Law Gazette 2017, Part I, p. 2379).

Under certain conditions, evaporative cooling systems, cooling towers and wet separators can emit water droplets (aerosols) containing Legionella, which can lead to severe pneumonia in humans even with fatal consequences when inhaled.

Legionella are naturally occurring water bacteria that enter technical water systems from the environment in low concentrations. Under conditions favorable to them, they can multiply strongly in these systems. Insofar as aerosols from these systems can escape into the ambient air, there is a risk that Legionella will be carried into the outside air and thus lead to a health hazard in the vicinity of these technical systems.

Against the background of several legionellosis outbreaks from technical water systems in Germany in previous years, the 42nd BImSchV 2017 adopted a nationwide ordinance with which the application of the state of the art as well as directly applicable technical and organizational obligations in the construction and operation of evaporative cooling systems, cooling towers and wet separators are to be bindingly regulated.

The regulation focuses on the monitoring of the plants and documentation within the framework of operator responsibility. Should increased Legionella findings be detected in the course of self-monitoring by the operator, these must be reported to the competent authority in order to be able to take hazard prevention measures at an early stage.

A notification of existing and new plants to the competent authority is provided for in order to enable the establishment of a plant cadastre. In the event of a new Legionella outbreak, this plant cadastre is to be accessed to determine the cause and the search for possible sources of spread is to be accelerated so that further infections are prevented as quickly as possible.

To support the operators of plants that fall under the scope of application of the 42nd BImSchV, the federal states have been providing the software provided under the web address: https://kavka.bund.de with the name "KaVKA-42.BV" since 19.07.2018.

The notification obligation according to § 13 of the 42nd BImSchV came into force on 19.07.2018. Existing plants had to be reported to the competent authority by 19.08.2018 at the latest. Further deadlines for the notification of a new plant, the modification or decommissioning of a plant as well as the change of operator result from § 13 of the 42nd BImSchV.

In order to display an attachment, registration in the KaVKA-42.BV system is first required. After successful registration, the master data of the workplace (the location of the plant) and the plant can be recorded and the notification transmitted to the competent authority.

The 42nd BImSchV also obliges operators to carry out recurring laboratory tests of the service water (§§ 4 and 7). Should a laboratory test for the parameter Legionella reveal an exceedance of the measure value, the competent authority must be informed (§ 10). This notification of the exceedance of the measure value is also made electronically via the web application KaVKA-42.BV.

Operators must also regularly arrange for a review of the proper operation of the plant by a publicly appointed and sworn expert or by an accredited type A inspection body every five years. In accordance with § 14 (2) of the 42nd BImSchV, the operator must instruct the expert or the inspection body to communicate the results of the inspections simultaneously to the operator and the competent authority within four weeks of completion of the inspection. This obligation is fulfilled if the result of the inspection by the expert or the inspection body is uploaded electronically to the web application KaVKA-42.BV.

The Ministry of Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility (MKUEM) in Rhineland-Palatinate prescribes according to § 17 (information formats and transmission channels) of the 42nd BImSchV that the operators must use the electronic way via the web application KaVKA-42.BV for information according to § 10 and advertisements according to § 13, which are to be transmitted to the authority according to the 42nd BImSchV. Notifications pursuant to § 14 (2) may also be transmitted in this way. Deviations from this are only possible in individual cases after consultation with the respective competent authority.

Responsible authorities for the implementation of the 42nd BImSchV in Rhineland-Palatinate are the Structure and Approval Directorate North and the Structure and Approval Directorate South.

The State Office for the Environment is responsible for the administration of KaVKA-42.BV.