Vacant home

[CadeWilla]

So we are soon to exchange on a property that has been vacant for over a year. It has suddenly dawned on me that perhaps the utilities having not been used for so long, that it might pose a health risk? The boiler has been on when we have gone to view it.

HSE advice is that you should run your taps etc every week to prevent legionella bacteria and these will obviously been a lot longer!
I've read that some plumbing contractors offer disinfection/chlorination services, but this tends to be on commercial properties.

Anyone had experience of this or am I way overthinking it..? It is 2am after all!

I think you are overthinking tbh. I have a private water supply and pay the council to do annual testing, not strictly necessary but for my own peace of mind and that includes all the nasties. It’s £140 and that includes a free retest if you fail. It’s might be worth it just to put your mind at ease?

I once rented a flat from a guy whose wife was an expert in it. The leaflet their EA gave out was similar to this:

https://www.hazells.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/LegionnairesDisease_Guide.pdf

"Where a property is left vacant for any time, e.g. student accommodation over the summer holidays, make sure that when it is occupied again at the outset both hot and cold water systems are flushed through by running all outlets for at least 2 minutes."

That's all you need to do, OP. But read the guidance re: showers, showerheads too.

Thank you both for your replies, really appreciate it.
I have contacted a local plumber to see what they say, as will probably get the boiler serviced too, but I see that actually it looks as though just running all the taps/showers etc should be sufficient. Shall probably buy new shower heads anyway to be on the safe side.

I’d probably also replace the shower hoses as well as they could be grimy inside.

I used to work in the water industry. For properties with lead supply pipes coming in from the street we would advise the householder to run the kitchen cold tap at a litre of water for every metre that there was between the street and the kitchen tap so that you weren't drinking water that had been lying still in the pipes overnight. Perhaps you can do the same when you first get there.