Scared of using shower after 2 weeks

[Bexx24]

I’ve been away from home for 15 days. I’m back and want to have a shower. I have a round rainfall shower head and it’s so difficult to take off. The shower hasn’t been used in the whole time I was away. I’m so scared of catching legionnaire disease as I’ve heard this can happen

You've heard this can happen in 15 days from where exactly? Some tinfoil hat on the internet?

I’m so scared of catching legionnaire disease as I’ve heard this can happen

No, it can't. Enjoy your shower.

Just run the shower.

Don't be daft

Let it run for a few more minutes before you step in, will be fine.

What???

At work they run the taps for about 20 minutes after school holidays, this is supposed to be enough to flush through any bugs.

It's also wise to run water after a trip away, I tend to run the cold water for a couple of minutes

Seriously? This is barking.

Legionnaires CAN develop in pipes where water has been static for several weeks. This is why during the pandemic, hotels were going round the rooms and running taps and showers for a couple of minutes every few weeks when they were unoccupied. Legionnaires is not usually an issue in private homes.

Just put the shower on and let the water run through for 2 minutes before getting in if you are really that worried. And get some help for your anxiety.

We have to be careful in our village as the water comes from a borehole and an elderly resident did catch legionnaires after not using his shower for some time.

I don't think it was 2 weeks though, more like 6 months.

Open the window, run it for 10 minutes at its hottest while being out of the room.

Spray the shower head with antibacterial cleaner and leave it for 5 mins then run it hot for 5. It'll be fine!

It is very unlikely.

If your boiler flow temp is 60 c or more then legionella can't survive in the system. Run your shower on hot for 10 minutes with the door closed and the window open. Have a shower tomorrow.

Just run the water for a couple of minutes.

This is an absolute non-issue.

Lol

There is nothing to fear. Has never crossed my mind. Do you have a water tank or combi boiler?

Not going to happen.

Legionnaires rarely infects domestic water systems. The risk is in large water systems such as offices or hotels, where water can stagnate in irregularly used piping kept at the optimum temperature for bacterial growth, which is something like 25-40C.

In domestic systems the hot water tank tends to be heated to higher than 40C, and the water standing in pipes cools down very quickly to below 25C, so the risk is negligible. Presumably you switched off your hot water anyway while you were away.

Incidence of Legionnaires in England is estimated at 1 in 10,000 - and most of those will have been caught in hotels outside the UK.

You are being sensible but all you need to do is turn the shower on (quite hot) and let it run for 5 minutes.

This is something we should all do when going on holiday especially at the start of the season when rooms have been unused for months.

Must admit I've never bothered at home though as I'm pulling water straight from the mains.

Unless you plan on drinking your shower water, I think you'll be fine 😉

Just run the water for 5 min before you use the shower.

To be fair I watched a presentation about legionnaires for work and the recommendation was to do this at home if you’ve been away, and in hotels etc as you don’t know how long the water hasn’t been used, so OP isn’t being crazy, but the risk is absolutely minimal at home as long as your water is hot enough.

I'm going away next year for 16 days, I don't think I'm going to come back to a legionnaires infested shower head.

I wouldn 't give this a second thought! You are overthinking it, do you suffer from anxiety?

This doesn’t make sense. Is your shower an electric one that heats the water as you use it? How could you get legionnaires disease from that? Do people actually get legionnaires disease from domestic systems in homes?

Gosh September must be a hot bed of legionnaires outbreaks after so many people have been away for a few weeks?!

Just use the shower.

Actually you aren't crazy, just maybe a little over cautious.

Domestic installs are generally considered low risk, especially if you don't have a hot water tank.

My Dad used to work in an industry with a large legionnaires risk and a friend of mine nearly died from it a few years ago, so I'm pretty aware of the dangers - but I really wouldn't worry in your case.