ALcontrol Laboratories, one of the largest environmental analysis organisations in the UK and Ireland, is offering a Legionella detection service said to be ten times faster than has been available in the past.

The company - the only laboratory in Britain to have UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accreditation to do so - uses a process known as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), which reduces analysis time to only a few hours.

PCR is an enzyme reaction which amplifies specific DNA fragments extracted from the initial sample in order to quantify them. Legionella analysis by PCR is a molecular biology method, which targets the nucleic acids that holds the genetic information of the bacteria. The PCR technique has been refined so that the detection of non-viable Legionella spp. is reduced to almost zero allowing the accurate assessment of water systems.

The PCR method is also much more sensitive than the culture method and it will fully detect Legionella that are stressed or contained inside other organisms and biofilms, thus providing a true result of all the Legionella in a water system.

Particularly affected by the disease, which has a 15 per cent mortality rate, are hot and cold water systems associated with large buildings such as leisure centres and spas, schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

ALcontrol's testing service can be organised on a regular contract basis through a site's operator or management company, or as requested.

An approved code of practice which contains guidance on the control of legionella in water systems is published by the Health and Safety Commission (L8).