Safer Water at Home: New Water Heater Tech Aims to Kill Bacteria in the Tank - CNET
One challenge of current water heater designs is staying hot enough to kill harmful bacteria like Legionella pneumophila, which can cause Legionnaires’ disease. A new water heater design, developed and patented by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, aims to raise tank temperatures to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, which spells instant doom for Legionella bacteria.
Legionella bacteria love warm water, so while they struggle to survive in a water heater tank set to 120 F, they’re more than comfortable elsewhere in a home’s hot water pipes. It’s technically possible to achieve sufficient temperatures with existing water heaters, but those temperatures are also likely to scald human skin whenever you turn on the faucet.
The biggest innovation of this new design is how it finds a new use for heat exchangers, the same technology behind air conditioners, heat pumps, furnaces and refrigerators. I wanted...
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