Guest guest Posted January 4, 2008 Report Share Posted January 4, 2008 I have used 2 tests periodically: a "watersafe" drinking water test or E. coli, and another "watersafe" bacteria test strip (tests for E. coli, Aeromoonas, Shigella, Enterobacter, Klebsiella and other coliform & non-coliform bacteria). Manu is Silver Lake Research Corp, Monrovia, CA. Web site = www.watersafetestkits.com I have never had any test come out positive. Chlorine levels are tested daily; we shock the water over the weekend. We change the water and thoroughly clean weekly. Liptak, RVT, CCRP Water testing? Hello- I am curious if anyone out there with underwater treadmills uses a scheduled water/enviornmental culture protocol? We use cholrine as our sanitizer, along with regular water changes, but I wonder if we should be doing more to check/double check that we aren't growing some weird bugs in our tank. Of course we don't have patients with open wounds/incisions in the pool, but with seeing more resistant staphs and such these days... or maybe I am being paranoid ?! Thanks! Dobson CVT More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2008 Report Share Posted January 4, 2008 - I have cultured MRSA, pseudomonas (of course because it loves a wet environment), and klebsiella from our Ferno pool here at Texas A & M. I started with chlorine for a sanitizer because of the positive cultures, then switched to Chlorazene from Ferno (which is what they recommended) with Sanizene sprayed on the walls between patients. Guess what-positive cultures! We culture the actual belt, and the walls of our treadmill not the tank. We searched and searched for a chemical to sanitize with that would kill all organisms without damaging the plastic and had no results. We finally bought a steam cleaner and have negative cultures ever since. We still use Chlorazene and Sanizene with the steam cleaner and have great results. I know a lot of people culture their water and have no growth, but we culture the holding tank itself and have had some positive cultures with scary organisms show up. Our tank is drained on Friday and refilled on Monday, then cultured every Monday after disinfection. We have a great microbiology department and an Infection Control Coordinator that we work closely with to develop these protocols. I will be happy to discuss this with anyone off of the group. J. Sessum, RVT Texas A & M University College of Veterinary Medicine Small Animal Rehabilitation & Surgery Technician Supervisor http://vmth.tamu.edu/rehab.shtml >>> " Dobson " 1/4/2008 10:45 AM >>> Hello- I am curious if anyone out there with underwater treadmills uses a scheduled water/environmental culture protocol? We use chlorine as our sanitizer, along with regular water changes, but I wonder if we should be doing more to check/double check that we aren't growing some weird bugs in our tank. Of course we don't have patients with open wounds/incisions in the pool, but with seeing more resistant staphs and such these days... or maybe I am being paranoid ?! Thanks! Dobson CVT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2008 Report Share Posted January 4, 2008 Our local pool supply co. will test our water. They supply us with containers and we fill them and drop them off regularly. Also, we have sent samples to the lab at the Univ. of Ky randomly for eval and culture. All have been normal. We have had a couple of dogs and a few horses with resistant staphs come thru our facility - so I have been a little paranoid. We use chlorine as well and have had no problems. Mindy , DVM, CCRT --- Dobson wrote: > Hello- > I am curious if anyone out there with underwater > treadmills uses a > scheduled water/enviornmental culture protocol? We > use cholrine as > our sanitizer, along with regular water changes, but > I wonder if we > should be doing more to check/double check that we > aren't growing some > weird bugs in our tank. Of course we don't have > patients with open > wounds/incisions in the pool, but with seeing more > resistant staphs > and such these days... or maybe I am being paranoid > ?! > > Thanks! > Dobson CVT > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________________\ ____ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2008 Report Share Posted January 4, 2008 What kind of steam cleaner do you use? Janice Huntingford Essex Animal Hospital Canine Rehab and Fitness Centre ---- Original Message ---- To: VetRehab Sent: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 1:15 pm Subject: Re: Water testing? - I have cultured MRSA, pseudomonas (of course because it loves a wet environment), and klebsiella from our Ferno pool here at Texas A & M. I started with chlorine for a sanitizer because of the positive cultures, then switched to Chlorazene from Ferno (which is what they recommended) with Sanizene sprayed on the walls between patients. Guess what-positive cultures! We culture the actual belt, and the walls of our treadmill not the tank. We searched and searched for a chemical to sanitize with that would kill all organisms without damaging the plastic and had no results. We finally bought a steam cleaner and have negative cultures ever since. We still use Chlorazene and Sanizene with the steam cleaner and have great results. I know a lot of people culture their water and have no growth, but we culture the holding tank itself and have had some positive cultures with scary organisms show up. Our tank is drained on Friday and refilled on Monday, then cultured every Monday after disinfection. We have a great microbiology department and an Infection Control Coordinator that we work closely with to develop these protocols. I will be happy to discuss this with anyone off of the group. J. Sessum, RVT Texas A & M University College of Veterinary Medicine Small Animal Rehabilitation & Surgery Technician Supervisor http://vmth.tamu.edu/rehab.shtml >>> " Dobson" <fallflightkennelsprodigy (DOT) net> 1/4/2008 10:45 AM >>> Hello- I am curious if anyone out there with underwater treadmills uses a scheduled water/environmental culture protocol? We use chlorine as our sanitizer, along with regular water changes, but I wonder if we should be doing more to check/double check that we aren't growing some weird bugs in our tank. Of course we don't have patients with open wounds/incisions in the pool, but with seeing more resistant staphs and such these days... or maybe I am being paranoid ?! Thanks! Dobson CVT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 , Do you clean your storage tank with the steam cleaner? If so, how on earth do you get in there!!!! Did you eradicate Pseudomanas? How has the Sanizene done with plastic damage long term? Would you be interested in doing a project in conjunction with us about sterility in underwater treadmills? Thanks, M Marti Drum, DVM, PhD Small Animal Physical Rehabilitation Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences C247 Veterinary Teaching Hospital Knoxville, TN 37996 " The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!), but 'That's funny...' " -Isaac Asimov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 The way our tank is designed we can get in our tank to steam it. The lid comes off and although I am a rather large individual, I can get in the tank to steam it. We have had negative cultures for pseudomonas, but it can be hit or miss since pseudomonas thrives in moist environments. The steam cleaner does reduce the amount to an acceptable level. That level is determined by our clinical pathology department. The sanizene is actually recommended by Ferno for use in their pools and the plastic has held up. As far as a project goes, please contact me off list and we will discuss this further. Thanks! J. Sessum, RVT Texas A & M University College of Veterinary Medicine Small Animal Rehabilitation & Surgery Technician Supervisor http://vmth.tamu.edu/rehab.shtml >>> " Marti Drum " 1/13/2009 9:12 AM >>> , Do you clean your storage tank with the steam cleaner? If so, how on earth do you get in there!!!! Did you eradicate Pseudomanas? How has the Sanizene done with plastic damage long term? Would you be interested in doing a project in conjunction with us about sterility in underwater treadmills? Thanks, M Marti Drum, DVM, PhD Small Animal Physical Rehabilitation Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences C247 Veterinary Teaching Hospital Knoxville, TN 37996 " The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!), but 'That's funny...' " -Isaac Asimov ------------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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