Hospital’s iced water machine purifier stripped out chlorine, killing 3 patients

Sort of like winning the lottery but in reverse. Sorry you had to go through that. Not just a reminder about tap water, but also not to have sinus surgery unless you really need it. I've heard from too many people that say even if it helps for awhile, the polyps usually grow back. I wonder if the success rates have improved recently.

Which isn't a problem in most cases, but in this case it was also a case of an improperly cleaned machine; it apparently relied on some chlorine in the water to limit bacterial colonies. I think that would be fine overall, but only if the machine was emptied and thoroughly disinfected regularly. I can imagine a machine like that would also be a source of legionella.

Over here, after a major legionella incident [0] got 318 people sick of which at least 32 died, they're paying a ton more attention to it with things like public fountains, but they also seal firehoses nowadays - they would on occasion be used for utility like hosing things down, but then be unused for a long time, causing legionella and other nasties to build up in the room temperature water contained in the hoses.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Bovenkarspel_legionellosi...

Ignorant people.

Less dickishly - people incapable of assessing risks as a spectrum alongside other risks - combined with a giant echo chamber in everyone's pocket.

1. Chlorine tastes nasty in water. (The correct solution IMO here is to use chloramine instead.)

2. Chlorine removal may be a side effect. Carbon filters are used to remove all kinds of nasties and/or unpleasant tastes and odors. And they remove chlorine. Carbon-filtering without removing chlorine may be difficult or impossible.

> Well, as a former competitive swimmer, if chlorine does any harm whatsoever I am a write off.

Research is mixed, but the actual danger to swimmers might not be the chlorine per se. There is some (conflicting) evidence that nitrogen trichloride and/or dichloramine exposure increases asthma risk in swimmers and in people who work near indoor swimming pools. They also smell terrible — the nasty “chlorine” smell, especially around indoor pools, is dichloramine and nitrogen trichloride.

Fortunately your tap water is unlikely to meaningfully expose you to these. You need a nitrogen source and excess chlorine, which should not exist at the same time in any substantial amount in tap water. A chlorinated swimming pool plus sweat and/or urine is a different story.

Completely unrelated other harvard medical news, their resident union is getting some major concessions from the administrators right now. That’s pretty cool. Pay at some of these progressive institutions is completely inadequate.

The article says:

> Although hospital records indicated that the machines had been maintained and cleaned per the manufacturer's instructions, the researchers noted visible bacterial biofilms on the inside components of the machines.

But it seems like a hospital should have its own standards for cleaning and disinfecting, not relying on manufacturer cleaning instructions for a non-medical device being used for patients with highly elevated risk of infection.

It's an even bigger risk, generally, with pitcher/reservoir type systems (e.g. Brita or Pur) that require manual fills, given that they get a lot of environmental exposure. If you use a Brita pitcher for a while and then leave the filter media and pitcher somewhere at room temp for a couple weeks, you can often see evidence of fungal/microbial growth popping out of the bottom of the filter cartridge. It's pretty gross. I've also had a relative end up in the hospital with a pretty severe amoebic infection, which investigators traced back to her Brita filter cartridge she had neglected to change for some time.

But this is why you replace your Brita filter every 2-3 months and wash the container.

Refrigerator filters generally need to be replaced every 6 months.

It's both because they lose effectiveness and because bacteria builds up inside them.

And your ice maker is normally always cold.

But clean any parts that do get warm.

Another thing I never quite understood was how bacteria thrive in purified water anyway, to the point where they can form biofilm. Where do they even get the necessary nutrients?

Ice machines are notoriously filthy because they have tons of tiny spaces that never dry. I remember looking inside an ice machine at work and the inside was covered in a thin film of slime.

Edit: however it seems that the machines were maintained, so it might not be about this specifically.