Legionella in house water supply caused health problems.

[sridevi 0]

Hi

I had breathing issues , fever, acute joint pains, headaches and used to roam around different doctors but none could not pin point. However after the pipelines cleansing in my house, my health improved a lot gradually with no headaches, fevers etc & no more doc visits in last two years. Please refer the picture which may give  for more information, posted by landlord.

i m really upset about it as impacted my personal and professional life obviously until mid of 2019 and would like to seek your advice whether I can sue, if yes, how to sue this landlord.

 

thanks for valuable guidance.

sri

 

 

[pappnase 1,691]

I would advise you to get professional legal advice.

If you don't have legal insurance, then there a great post here https://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/topic/379255-how-to-get-legal-advice-or-representation-in-court-if-you-have-limited-means-or-a-low-income/ with advice on how to find a lawyer.

 

 

[wien4ever 404]

I'm curious how bad were your symptoms? I'm surprised the doctors couldn't figure it out.

Did they do any blood tests? urine tests?

 

 

[snowingagain 4,094]

32 minutes ago, wien4ever said:

I'm curious how bad were your symptoms? I'm surprised the doctors couldn't figure it out.

Did they do any blood tests? urine tests?

 

I was wondering about that.  Water problem was solved 2 years ago?

[cb6dba 7,150]

When did you get that letter?

 

[optimista 5,148]

11 hours ago, wien4ever said:

I'm surprised the doctors couldn't figure it out.

 

I'm not. A spectrum of non-specific symptoms which could be indicative of so many things. Doctors are not magicians. And if you are still largely functional it takes a lot of persistence and more than a bit of luck hitting the right practitioner to get to the bottom of it. This is life. You will have a very hard time proving any causal link to the legionellla. Defense lawyers will have an easy time arguing it could have been something else. The horse bolted long ago. Did you keep scrupulous records or have any proof of your symptoms and doctors' appointments? Without that I cannot see any hope of success.

 

I'm not sure the landlord would even be the right person to hold responsible. Does someone always have to be personally responsible? How would you feel if you were the landlord?

 

Do you have legal insurance? Because this fight will cost money.

[jeba 3,859]

8 hours ago, optimista said:

I'm not sure the landlord would even be the right person to hold responsible.

Exactly. Why is it his fault? After all, it´s something beyond their control. There only needs to be a tenant who doesn´t use a water tap for a couple of weeks and there you have it.

[wien4ever 404]

btw- I'm not being skeptical , I am also going to test my water because my pipes are old (galvanized steel from 70s). I thought legionella usually gives pneumonia in combination with other symptoms (fever, joint pain). I don't have fever , but feel some chronic inflammation, but that could be anything thing. I for sure haven't got pneumonia or any trouble breathing.

[snowingagain 4,094]

1 hour ago, wien4ever said:

btw- I'm not being skeptical , I am also going to test my water because my pipes are old (galvanized steel from 70s). I thought legionella usually gives pneumonia in combination with other symptoms (fever, joint pain). I don't have fever , but feel some chronic inflammation, but that could be anything thing. I for sure haven't got pneumonia or any trouble breathing.

 

What sort of system do you have for heating your water?  This is mostly a problem in apartments with a distant heat source and long distribution system.  

[garyh911 135]

Does anyone know if landlords are legally required in Germany to periodically check water quality for Legionella or other bacteria and chemicals?  Ours had been checked a few years back but nothing recently.

[jeba 3,859]

3 hours ago, garyh911 said:

Does anyone know if landlords are legally required in Germany to periodically check water quality for Legionella or other bacteria and chemicals?  Ours had been checked a few years back but nothing recently.

Quote

Every three years, landlords of apartment buildings must have the tap water tested for legionella; the next deadline is 31 December 2016. According to the new Drinking Water Ordinance, this only applies to systems for heating drinking water that contain more than 400 litres of storage or where the pipelines between the large boiler and the furthest tapping point carry more than three litres of water - this corresponds to a distance of about 15 metres. One- and two-family houses and owner-occupied condominiums are exempt from the rule.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Source: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/wohnen/bis-ende-2016-muessen-vermieter-trinkwasser-pruefen-lassen-14472329.html

[wien4ever 404]

On 5/28/2021, 9:51:53, snowingagain said:

 

What sort of system do you have for heating your water?  This is mostly a problem in apartments with a distant heat source and long distribution system.  

 

My system is simply point of use electric water heaters (warmwasserspeicher) e.g. 5L for kitchen, 5L for bathroom sink, 20L for shower , 100L for bath) and small instantaneous water heaters (e.g. for guest WCs. ). 

 

 

 

[jeba 3,859]

20 hours ago, wien4ever said:

 

My system is simply point of use electric water heaters (warmwasserspeicher) e.g. 5L for kitchen, 5L for bathroom sink, 20L for shower , 100L for bath) and small instantaneous water heaters (e.g. for guest WCs. ). 

 

So you shouldn't have to worry as Temperaturen higher than 60 degrees will kill legionella and your heaters will hopefully beat that threshold. If not simply set them higher every couple of days.