Press Releases

January 2009

‘Is your water safe?’

How safe is your water’? Many estate managers would not be able to answer that question, since they don’t test for Legionella. Why don’t they test? Because they suspect they will find it. These estate managers are walking a tightrope and if they fall then it’s the public that will pay with their lives. So, is ignorance bliss? Surely it can’t be these days.

ProEconomy has a far more reliable approach to water safety. We not only provide our copper and silver ionisation system, the Orca, which has been proven to be the most effective means of eradicating Legionella. We also test monthly to guarantee that Legionella does not reoccur. If it does reoccur we track it down, find the source and eliminate it. We guarantee that the public’s safety is never jeopardised. In essence, we offer true peace of mind.

I am sure estates departments would love to say that the inside of their hospital pipes are clean and that they have perfect flows and temperatures throughout their hospital water system. However, reality often proves that this is not the case. Most hospitals were built many years ago and have grown ever since. A number of our hospitals were built in the seventeen hundreds and have been added to right up to today. It is difficult, therefore, for estates departments to fully understand their water systems and to be absolutely sure that safe water is supplied to the wards. Modern hospitals are not immune either. We took water samples before commissioning the Orca system from a three-month-old hospital, of the thirty samples taken, nine came back Legionella positive. So, a brand new hospital with, you would presume, clean pipes, good flow and great temperatures still had thirty three percent Legionella contamination.

How ever new or old your site is there is always a reason for Legionella being in your pipe work. The Legionella enters a site’s water system through the mains and once inside it will find the right conditions to breed.

The ProEconomy strategy is a proactive approach. We not only control Legionella and other waterborne pathogens, we also remove the breeding sources, isolate problem areas, and record all our findings including water analysis results and temperatures. This not only gives you true peace of mind, knowing that your water is safe, but it gives you a good understanding of what is going on within your water system.

We do not bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best, we implement a fully recorded and accountable water regime.

Our responsibility extends further than Legionella. Not only do we test for Legionella and total viable bacteria regularly but, when necessary, we also test for E-coli, coliforms, pseudomonas bacteria and other pathogens. In addition, we regularly test the levels of copper and silver within the pipe work, ensuring that target values to control Legionella are met and identifying problem areas which can then be corrected.

Additionally, the copper and silver released by the Orca system removes the biofilm from your pipe work, therefore, removing the major breeding ground for Legionella and keeping tanks and other water bearing equipment clean.

Along with the Orca system comes fifteen years of experience in controlling Legionella. Also, Birgitta Bedford, who is into her third year of her PhD into Legionella control, oversees all the water analysis results from all samples taken. She investigates where the problem could be and fully understands the tell tale signs others may miss, giving an additional service that no one else in the Legionella control industry gives.

The Orca system also offers the long term benefit of reducing temperatures, therefore lowering your carbon foot print and reducing costs as part of ProEconomy’s thorough and responsible Legionella control strategy. Now isn’t that a better strategy to tackle your Legionella control?

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November 2008

ERADICATE LEGIONELLA AND PROVE IT

This summer ProEconomy’s Orca system was installed in a six hundred-bed hospital, which had experienced an outbreak of Legionnaires disease that had resulted in a fatality. The hospital was following a rigid temperature regime.

Before commissioning ProEconomy test throughout their hospitals. In this instance, half of the fifty points tested were positive for Legionella. That fell to four points after 1 month of using the Orca system.

This is not an isolated case. The Orca systems success rate is unchallenged, especially when compared against the temperature control regime. Numerous hospitals have drafted in ProEconomy to eradicate the Legionella that temperature regimes were unable to eliminate. Indeed, the Orca system’s efficiency has been proven through numerous scientific papers, unlike the temperature control regime that has no scientific papers to support the claim that temperatures greater than fifty-degrees Celsius will eradiate Legionella.

We appreciate that money is tight. However, by reducing your temperatures and by allowing the removal of expensive TMV’s, hospitals have found that the Orca system actually saves them money. Furthermore, the Orca will reduce a hospitals carbon footprint, assisting in meeting carbon targets set by the government.

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November 2008

Save money. Reduce your carbon footprint. Control Legionella

With the credit crunch and the environment taking a prominent position in government priorities, hospitals should be taking steps to reduce costs and their carbon footprint. Now is not the time to be complacent.

ProEconomy can help. With ProEconomy’s Orca system, which controls Legionella in over 200 NHS sites, you can safely reduce hot water temperatures.

The Orca system can save you money and reduce your energy needs whilst meeting the Department of Health HTM04 requirements, helping you to stick to your budget whilst complying with legislation and contributing to carbon reduction obligations.

If your hospital operates a temperature control regime then you are wasting money and unnecessarily increasing your carbon footprint. Heating your water to 60°C takes a huge amount of energy and money. For it to then be cooled to 40°C using expensive and heavily maintained thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs) is foolish and wasteful. More importantly it’s dangerous, as ProEconomy’s water expert, Birgitta Bedford (PhD, MSc ED), explains ‘Legionella bacteria enter water systems through mains cold water which is mixed with hot water in TMVs to a temperature at which Legionella thrive best, allowing the bacteria to multiple and potentially colonise your whole water system’.

The Orca system is different. Legionella control by the Orca system is not reliant on temperature and harmful chemicals are also not added to the water. It allows hospitals to reduce their hot water temperatures. The system is more effective in controlling Legionella than the temperature control regime as biofilms are also attacked, and it is also less expensive to install and maintain, better for the environment and cheaper to run.

The Orca offers complete water peace of mind with a comprehensive testing regime that ensures that your water system remains Legionella free. Unlike other water treatment companies that view their responsibility as void once their system is installed, ProEconomy ensures that Legionella never returns as long as the Orca is treating your water.

This responsible policy that ProEconomy operates and their impressive track record has created a dependable and excellent reputation. Indeed, Geoff Fox, estates manager at the 900 bed Birmingham Heartlands hospital, where the Orca system was installed in September 2007, said ‘With Orca, we not only have a more efficient system, we can demonstrate that Legionella has been eradicated from our water system’.

The success of the Orca system at Birmingham Heartlands lead to the implementation of ProEconomy’s Legionella control approach at the Birmingham Solihull and the Birmingham Good Hope hospitals, where the Orca system was installed in January and May of this year respectively.

The ProEconomy Legionella control regime is working successfully in over 200 sites throughout the UK and Europe. Their track record is immaculate. A large 800 bed hospital on the east coast recently installed the Orca system. They were operating a strict temperature control regime. They were attaining HTM04 recommended temperatures but nevertheless 50% of the site was contaminated with Legionella, within 1 month ProEconomy reduced that to 10%.

For further details on the cost and energy saving ProEconomy Legionella Control Approach phone 01525 854111.

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ProEconomy fights Legionella increase with water treatment success at over 200 sites across the UK

The British public should be worried. The latest report from the Health Protection Agency reveals a disturbing 30% increase in reported cases of Legionella for the first half of 2007 alone – up from 120 cases between January and June 2006, to 163 cases for the same period this year.

“This is totally unacceptable because it can easily be avoided,” says Nick Bedford, MD of ProEconomy, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of Legionella protection systems.

ProEconomy’s Orca system uses the innovative copper/silver ionisation technique instead of the old-style temperature control approach. The Orca system is proven to be more effective, cheaper, easier to test and more environmentally-friendly.

Over the last ten years, ProEconomy’s Orca system has successfully protected over 2 million patients and employees without one single reported case of Legionella.

“We are seeing a massive increase in interest in our Orca water treatment system,” adds Nick. “Both health trusts and commercial companies across the country now recognise that the old-style temperature-control solutions just aren’t working. They need more effective and regularly-tested methods to control Legionella in all their water systems to guarantee purity and protect public health.”

ProEconomy’s Orca system is now successfully protecting the British public from water-borne diseases at over 200 sites - including Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and HSBC’s impressive HQ in Canary Wharf.

In the last few months ProEconomy has seen a significant increase in sales. The latest UK hospitals to adopt the ProEconomy Orca system include:

• Wood Eaton Manor, Oxford
• Benenden Hospital, Kent
• Bristol General Hospital
• St Michael’s Hospital, Bristol
• BUPA Gatwick Park
• BUPA Little Ashton
• Birmingham Heartlands

Geoff Fox, Estates Manager at the 800-bed Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, explained his decision:

“We had a temperature control regime which did not fully control the bacteria in line with government guidelines, especially at downstream mixing valves. It’s essential to have a control mechanism which actively removes the breeding ground for Legionella.”

“That’s why we chose the Orca system, because it’s proven to be successful, eliminates the Legionella breeding grounds and gives us far greater control. We’ve also embraced the Orca analysis regime that regularly tests all our systems to ensure no Legionella exists.”

“So with Orca, we not only have a more efficient system, we can demonstrate that Legionella has been eradicated from our water systems. That gives us much greater peace of mind that our staff and patients are now properly protected.”

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Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital fights Legionella with copper/silver ionisation

Read our editorial from 'Hospital Bulletin', November 2007 issue

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Department of Health issues 'unfair' guidlines for water safety treatment

Read our latest editorial from 'Waterline - The Journal of the Water Management society', Autumn 2007 issue

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Legionella danger as Department of Health issues ‘unfair’ guidelines for water safety treatment

Changes to Department of Health guidelines for water treatment in NHS properties threaten public health, increase costs dramatically for cash-strapped NHS Trusts and create unfair market conditions for more effective new water safety treatments.

Bedfordshire-based water systems specialist ProEconomy has issued a formal challenge to the Department of Health after the government body changed its guidelines for NHS Trusts last November by recommending old-style, energy-intense, temperature-based control systems as the ‘preferred strategy’ for NHS properties.

On May 22nd, South Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous took the ProEconomy challenge to Parliament. In his statement to the House he stressed that the issue is not only ‘of great concern to the industry’, but also ‘represents a substantial risk to the public’.

To read more, download the press release.

To see the full Hansard coverage of the Parliamentary debate – and the unsatisfactory government response - click here.

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ProEconomy Dubai

During 2006, ProEconomy has been in contact with UK trade and investment, researching into the potential Emirates market. During November 2006 ProEconomy was invited to the UK-Emirates business investment opportunities exhibition at the ExCel Centre in London, and due to keen interest in the Orca and Barracuda systems, ProEconomy is in the process of setting up a Dubai branch.

Additionally while at the exhibition, the Arab British chamber of commerce expressed their desire to for an article on ProEconomy to be included in their winter 2007 quarterly magazine.

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