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Representing an investment of just under €750,000, Newry-based built environment software experts Bluezone Technologies have launched their latest innovations, developed at the company’s innovation hub, to facilitate round the clock monitoring and control of Legionella and waterborne bacteria.
The 'no touch' Legionella management system consisting of BluezoneTemp and BluezoneFlo, which sit on the company's Internet of Things (IoT) platform Bluezone24, incorporates sensor technology to remotely monitor water temperatures and provide real time intelligent analysis to the devices of those responsible for their occupants' health and wellbeing through Bluezone24, all without human interaction.
Bluezone Technologies has a reputation for creating operational efficiencies through their software and their well-established Bluezone24 platform for managing the organisational, contractor and compliance requirements of buildings and assets. This includes an existing legionella management module with mobile application and utilises the latest Internet of Things (IOT) sensor technology to remotely monitor environmental comfort such as humidity, carbon dioxide and asset tracking.
Applying the over 60 years' industry experience of Directors Adrian Byrne, a Co Down native, and Carlow-based industrial microbiologist Pat McDonald, Bluezone Technologies have vast experience of what is takes to ensure a healthy built environment. The duo were quick to recognise that technology was the way forward and set about developing a solution with their many years of knowledge to guide them.
Pat McDonald, Technical Director commented: "Legionella control and monitoring is still largely focused on paper-based procedures, however the appetite for an easy to install sensor alongside a user-friendly platform with quick reporting dashboards was clear.
"By rolling-out Bluezone24 across their facilities, forward-looking companies are leveraging a proven, purpose-built Legionella management solution to ensure their compliance and achieve a measurable return on investment. More and more companies are being driven by data, including the industries we come from. BluezoneTemp and BluezoneFlo can be installed in new builds and retrofitted with minimal intrusion and without any required access to buildings’ IT data networks, and those who are responsible for environmental or Legionella in their building will now have a wealth of data – delivered right to their mobile phones if needed – to support or guide their decision making."
The latest releases coincide with recent concerns from the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) over a potential increase in Legionnaires' Disease, an illness caused by the growth of Legionella bacteria in water systems not adequately managed. BluezoneTemp operates on the basis that managing Legionella risks is best achieved through monitoring and controlling the temperature in water.
During the Covid-19 pandemic many buildings were closed or largely unused for an extended period of time allowing water systems to become stagnated. Stagnated water is a potential breeding ground for Legionella and is prevented by running water outlets in a process known as flushing. BluezoneFlo automates this process.
Explaining how Bluezone24 works Adrian Byrne, CEO said: "At a minimum, BluezoneTemp captures daily temperatures and transmits the data via the world’s largest IoT network to the cloud hosted Bluezone24 platform. It is here the true intelligence and efficiencies of the platform are seen. Property and facilities managers can clearly see out of range temperatures and can plan any remedial work they may need to carry out. Coincidentally, they can do this through other add-on modules in the same platform including assigning contractors to a task.
"We were already in the latter stages of R&D with an automatic flushing unit in early 2020, but following the coronavirus outbreak, the need for such a device, and the technology to support it, accelerated. The BluezoneFlo device complements its temperature-taking counterpart by automatically flushing an outlet and reporting back to the platform, creating true autonomy. Vitally, the platform records these events in digital form with a complete asset history, and perhaps more importantly during these times, there is no physical visit required to that asset or site."
For industries wishing to ensure a world-class legionella monitoring programme, Bluezone24 offers the next stage in digital transformation across their operations. Existing clients include local authorities, financial institutions, and pharmaceutical companies. One of Bluezone24’s first clients, AIB, installed the sensors across its branches for guaranteed compliance, reliability and security.
