Resources
Writtenforthepeoplewhohavetospecifyit.
- ArticleInsights3 min
After the Storm Breaks: What's Lurking in Your Water?
Hurricanes and heavy rainstorms compromise a building's water long after the weather clears. Hospitalisations for Legionnaires' disease rose 42% two weeks after a major storm, and E. coli cases spiked 48% a week after rainfall exceeded 100 mm.
- ArticleInsights3 min
Why Water Quality Matters: A Solution for Affordable Housing
Residents of affordable housing face disproportionate water quality risk from ageing municipal infrastructure and neglected building plumbing. The CDC found people in high-poverty areas are 2.5 times more likely to contract Legionnaires' disease.
- Press releaseNews & Press3 min
Centralized Water Purification for Standard Communities Affordable Housing
Standard Communities partners with Clear to install centralised purification at Imperial Tower, a 187-unit affordable community in Sacramento — the first affordable housing developer to bring industry-trusted UV directly to residents.
- ArticleInsights6 min
Water Quality Regulation in Canada
Federal guidelines, provincial standards and municipal operation each cover part of the problem. Where the Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment behind those guidelines reaches its limits, and who that leaves exposed.
- ArticleInsights6 min
Understanding the Seasonal Threat of Legionella and How to Protect Your Water System
Legionnaires' cases peak from May to November. Why warm water, reduced summer occupancy and cooling towers combine into a seasonal risk, and what mitigates it.
- ArticleInsights5 min
The Biological Risks of Point-of-Use Filters
Under-sink and tap filters remove the chlorine that suppresses microbial growth, then offer an enormous porous surface for biofilm. Bacterial densities can rise 10–100 times after water passes through an activated carbon device.
- ArticleInsights5 min
What is UV? The Science and Applications of UV Light
UVA, UVB and UVC explained, and why the shortest wavelengths inactivate bacteria and viruses by damaging DNA, RNA and proteins — the mechanism behind water and air disinfection.
- ArticleInsights4 min
Legionella: A Hidden Danger in Our Water Systems
Legionnaires' disease kills around 10% of otherwise healthy patients and 25% of those with underlying conditions. US cases have risen tenfold since 2000, and ageing plumbing is a leading suspect.
- ArticleInsights6 min
Biofilms: The Unseen Culprit Behind Water Contamination
The slime layer inside plumbing is a coordinated microbial community with its own nutrient channels and chemical defences. How it forms, why it shelters Legionella, and what actually removes it.
- ArticleResearch7 min
Ultraviolet Inactivation: The Molecular Mechanisms Behind Disinfection
Why one technology works against bacteria, viruses and protozoa alike. A low-pressure lamp emits at a single wavelength — 254 nm — and targets DNA. A medium-pressure lamp emits across 200–300 nm and damages DNA, RNA and proteins at once, which is what makes it the harder barrier to survive.
- ArticleInsights6 min
The Multi-Barrier Approach to Water Quality: Source to Tap Protection
No single barrier protects drinking water. Source protection, coagulation and filtration, disinfection, and a protected distribution network each have holes — the Swiss cheese model — and safety comes from the fact that a contaminant would have to pass through all of them.
- ArticleInsights6 min
ESG Initiatives and Health Risks: The Water Quality Trade-off in Green Buildings
Toilets went from over 5 gallons per flush in the 1980s to 1.28 today — a 74% reduction, and a real environmental win. It also means water moves more slowly and sits for longer, and stagnant water in premise plumbing is where Legionella and Pseudomonas grow.
Start here
Or skip the reading.
An assessment answers the only question these documents are trying to help you ask: what is in this building's water?
