William Spitz on water treatment practices and tower idle periods

Thank you.

Can you hear me?

No.

Okay.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

I am William Spitz.

I have a degree in mechanical engineering from NYU.

I've been in the water treatment business since 1971.

In 1983, I started Wesco Technologies.

And in 2025, I merged with Metro Group, a larger company servicing some 1,000 New York City cooling towers.

I applaud New York City's proactive response to the 2015 Legionnaires outbreak.

Previous to the enactment of Law 77, one out of 10 of our clients would allow us to disinfect and clean their towers once a year.

The local law

is good but not perfect.

It is my understanding that the Harlem outbreak in 2025 involved Harlem Hospital and an adjacent construction site.

The Harlem outbreak brings up two issues.

Harlem Hospital is owned by New York City.

Do New York City-owned properties adhere to Local Law 77?

And are they inspected?

The second, how do you treat a tower in new construction sites?

Typically, the towers are installed, and when the piping and refrigeration equipment are in place, they are flushed with an alkaline cleaner and disinfected and cleaned.

Then they may be idle for up to a year.

Before they are put into service.

It's hard to treat a tower that's not operating.

I would recommend having towers drained until they are put into service, and when they are going to be operated, they should be disinfected and cleaned per Local Law 77 and registered with the DOH.

I concur with the proposal that the towels should be cleaned three times each year.

You need to summarize the rest of it.

The disinfection and cleaning should be done in spring, summer, and fall.

The summer disinfection should replace the summertime hyperhalogenation.

Legionella testing every 31 days should be changed to monthly, not to exceed 40 days.

Water treatment companies are in partnership with the city.

It's hard to keep track of 31-day intervals.

for each of the thousands of towers.

With respect to the fines, I recommend a five-day grace period.

Meter regulations allow a five-minute grace period and speed cameras up to 10 miles leeway.

The city used Q...

You need to...

You need to wrap it up.

The city used PCR tests to preliminary test the towers.

These tests do not distinguish between living and dead organisms.

It's a useful tool.

The actual tests can be performed in the field in as low as 25 minutes.

That level of detail, I can't, we have to go on to the other people.

So please submit your testimony to us.

Thank you.

Go ahead.