Report: Water as windshield wiper fluid causes 20% of Legionnaires' Disease cases

[rose0529]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/15/r...of-legionnair/

Report: Water as windshield wiper fluid causes 20% of Legionnaires' Disease cases in UK

by Zach Bowman (RSS feed) on Jun 15th 2010 at 9:58AM


If you use standard tap water in your windshield washer fluid reservoir instead of a cleaner, you may have effectively turned your vehicle into a biological weapon. Sure, that sounds cool and all, but according to BBC News, the only person you're going to be hurting is yourself. As it turns out, using plain water can cause the washer fluid system to become a breeding ground for Legionella bacterium – the same nastiness that causes Legionaires' Disease and pneumonia. Spray your windshield and the bacteria becomes airborne, allowing it to easily enter your lungs and wreak havoc with your immune system.

Researchers discovered the hive of scum and villainy lurking under the hood by attempting to discern why professional drivers were five times more likely to become ill than their amateur counterparts. After a little scientific sleuthing, the lab coats unearthed the bacteria. So do the world a favor and top off your windshield washer fluid reservoir with some sort of purpose-built cleaner. The stuff will kill the infection-causing bacteria and will keep the fluid from freezing in the winter. Not bad for 99 cents a gallon. Thanks for the tip, Kris!

[Source: BBC News | Image: williac – C.C. License 2.0]

[Kracka]

I wonder if it's any water or just tap water? Does it apply to US tap water? I think ours has more chemicals in it than theirs.

[rose0529]

Originally Posted by Kracka

I wonder if it's any water or just tap water? Does it apply to US tap water? I think ours has more chemicals in it than theirs.

Good point! What about water from a well?

[Matt D.]

As soon as the purest water has a spec of anything in it, it will grow some crazy stuff when left alone long enough. Only way to prevent this would be a sealed sterile container with distilled or reverse osmosis/deionized water in it.

[goodhart]

I would think our (U.S.) city water would be better than their water (U.K.) or well water since it has chloride in it. The Brits don't have chloride in their water, probably a big reason why half of them have nasty teeth.

[Halon]

After owning a Front Load Washing Machine, I definately know what our clean US water can grow. Every 9 months or so I have to use bleach and vinager to clean out the seals in the washer because mold starts to grow where water often gets trapped in the rubber seals over time. Imagine a 10 year old can that has always ran water for washer fluid, yuck.