Windscreen wiper water/ Legionnaires' Disease

Don't breathe in when your behind a window washer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10293519.stm


Windscreen wiper water may be the cause of 20% of cases of Legionnaires'
Disease in England and Wales, the Health Protection Agency says.

 

We were watching that this morning and both thought that the car/truck
aircon is a much more likely source than the washers.

 

Yup. Those too cheap to put any additive in the screenwash are far more
likely not to run the aircon regularly.

 

Isn't that type of air con a closed system so a water borne disease
wouldn't be able to do its thing?

 

Condensation at a guess. If you don't run it regularly, condensation
builds up on the exchanger, making a nice home for nasties which then
get blown through the vents when you do run it.

 

I'm not so sure. If I was a professional driver doing tens of thousands
of miles a year, I'm not sure I'd bother with screen wash either when
there's no chance of freezing. You'd get through gallons of the stuff &
it all hits the bottom line.

 

In many cars I have seen a lot of it hits the car behind as well.

 

Or bike behind. Which is a bit of a pisser when it goes all over your
visor and you don't have the luxury of windscreen wipers.

 

You actually get a fungal growth in there, quite common it is. It tends
to be worse in the winter when you're not running it so often, and
clearing it through with fresh water, and of course warming it up nicely
with the heater. It gives you that 'musty' smell you get when you first
switch on.

 

took a blunt brush and painted...

So us convertible car drivers are screwed then.

Ah well, as I'm snuffling like hell I'll just chuck the used snot rags over
my shoulder when I'm driving along

 

While the heat exchanger is in a closed loop the air circulation system of
an aircon car is not. There is a build up of condensation and although their
should be a drainage system a sensible car mechanic treats the area with
some caution.

The drainage getting restricted or blocked is a common enough issue and it
can get *really* unpleasant in the trap.

 

especially after a good ruby.

 

Christ man your car must be huge to warrant an adiabatic cooling tower.

 

I expect that's a bit like Domestos though