CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskWhy dead legs are a significant Legionella risk and how to eliminate them.
A dead leg is a section of pipework that is no longer connected to a live outlet -- typically left over after a refurbishment when an outlet was removed without capping the feed pipe back to the main. Water in a dead leg stagnates and can reach temperatures that favour Legionella growth, yet is connected to the live system and can backflow during pressure changes.
The only safe solution to a dead leg is to remove it back to the nearest live tee or junction. Capping a dead leg at the point where an outlet was removed still leaves a section of stagnant pipework connected to the system. Where removal is impractical, the dead leg must be flushed at least weekly and this must be documented in the written scheme.
Establish a policy that any pipework decommissioned during refurbishment must be removed back to the nearest live connection as part of the works. This should be a standard requirement in any building or maintenance contract specification, and the responsible person should inspect and sign off the works on completion.
CareHomeDesk gives you compliance checklists, maintenance logs, and contractor management tools built around exactly this kind of knowledge.