New York City DOH has adopted significant changes to Chapter 8 of the Health Code, which pertains to cooling towers. These changes need to be implemented by May 8, 2026. The DOH is holding two in-person presentations on Wednesday, April 29 and Friday, May 1 for further opportunities for questions.

Monthly Legionella Sampling

• Legionella sampling is now required for all operating cooling towers monthly, with no more than 31 days between samplings.
• Legionella samples need to be analyzed for all species of Legionella, not just L pneumophilia Serogroup 1. A signed Chain of Custody must also be retained for recordkeeping. 
• If Homeyer Consulting Services, Inc. was already collecting your Legionella samples, this was already being done
• The Legionella follow-up of the summertime hyperhalogenation now must occur within 3-31 days.

Changes to System Operation, Startup and Shutdown

• An operational system must continually recirculate water.
• Any period of no circulation lasting three or more days in any part of the cooling tower system requires that applicable risk management procedures be carried out and documented to achieve effective biofilm and microorganism control.
• Startup and Shutdown procedures must be overseen by a qualified person.
• Startup and Shutdown dates both need to be reported via the cooling tower portal within five days by the registrant of the cooling tower portal.
• There are new fines associated with not properly reporting startup and shutdown.
• As soon as the cooling tower system has been even partially filled, DOH considers this system to be in operation and on-site testing must begin.
• There is no more grace period.
• A physical cleaning and disinfection of the cooling tower must occur within 15 days; utilizing a hyperhalogenation only is no longer sufficient for start-up.
• The startup Legionella sampling window is narrowed and must now be collected within 3-14 days.
•  Specific, detailed seasonal and temporary shutdown and startup procedures need to be added to the Maintenance Program and Plan (MPP).

Use of NYC Cooling Tower Portal

• There are a number of new violations, many of which involve use of the NYC Cooling Tower Portal.
• Failure to report shutdown/startup date within five days (facility responsibility)
• Failure to report operation period to the department (facility responsibility)
• Failure to submit declaration of hyperhalogenation performed at least once per year between July 1 and August 31 (facility responsibility)
• Failure to report Legionella sample test date within five days (Qualified Person responsibility)
• Failure to report Legionella sample test date (Qualified Person responsibility)
• Facilities need to make sure that they have access to upload files and that they have appointed their Qualified Person (who is collecting the Legionella samples) access to upload these dates.
• If you are having issues accessing the portal, contact your Homeyer Consulting Services, Inc. representative for assistance.

Dip Slide Testing and Response

• Should a high dip slide (≥10,000 CFUs/mL) be recorded, the team must institute monitoring of disinfectant residual three times per day until the water treatment achieves target biocide residuals for a minimum of 24 hours.
• If this is not achieved with three days, a Legionella sample needs to be collected.
• Retest water for bacteriological indicators 48 hours after achieving the target biocide residual.

Documentation

• Any system anomalies must be recorded on the weekly checklist and reported to management and the maintenance team within 24 hours for corrective action to be completed.
• There is additional language about providing documentation as requested by DOH during their inspection. Furthermore, if records are kept electronically, any such record requested by DOH must be provided via a digital device by the owner.

Other MPP-Related Changes

• The team needs to work to update the system drawing and generate a valve schedule for each operating configuration and condition, including, at a minimum, any time when cooling tower component(s) are brought online.
• The Risk Management Assessment needs to be updated to include operating configurations and conditions that may result in low flow or no flow in any part of the system.
• The MPP must be certified annually by the plan preparer.
• A new log sheet will be created for tracking reactions to dip slide counts greater than or equal to 10,000 CFUs/mL.
• Cooling towers may only be supplied by a municipal water supply. If water from a non-potable water source is used, the owner must submit an alternative water source plan (AWSP).
• That AWSP is a separate plan that must identify each non-potable water source and include provisions for adequate design of treatment and control components and ongoing evaluation to eliminate any risk to public health.
• That AWSP must be approved by the DOH before any non-potable water source can be used for cooling tower make-up.

Additionally, seven new violations have been added, and all existing violations have doubled in cost (both for a first violation and for repeat violations), ranging from $1,000-$4,000 per citation.

Please contact your Homeyer Consulting Services, Inc. representative for any further questions regarding these updates to Chapter 8 and how they may affect your building.