Legionella Expert Tim Keane

Mr. Keane is an engineer and internationally recognized authority on the control, mitigation, and forensic investigation of Legionella in building and industrial water systems. He has more than 40 years of experience spanning engineering, construction, facility operations, water treatment, and Legionella risk management, including more than 25 years leading outbreak investigations, root cause determinations, and remediation efforts.

Mr. Keane is retained in complex Legionnaires’ disease litigation involving alleged failures in engineering design, system operation, and water management programs. His forensic work includes field investigation, system and operational analysis, interpretation of water quality and microbiological data, review of engineering schematics, and reconstruction of system operating history.

His experience includes:

• Building engineering, construction, and facility operations/management (1977–1987)
 • Water treatment industry leadership and technical operations (1987–2000)
 • Legionella consulting, outbreak response, and water management program development (2000–present)

Mr. Keane has led or played key roles in major public health outbreak investigations, including:

• Rapid City, South Dakota (2005): Contracted by state of South Dakota to lead community wide outbreak investigation
 • Flint, Michigan (2016): Participated in the state-led evaluation of Legionella risk in residential water systems
 • Quincy Veterans’ Home, Illinois (2015–2018): Contracted by state of Illinois for engineering investigation to resolve the multi-year Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

He has direct field experience investigating and remediating Legionella in hospitals, long-term care facilities, hotels, residential buildings, industrial and municipal water systems, casinos, and other large-scale facilities.

Mr. Keane was an original voting member in development of ASHRAE Standard 188 and the revision of ASHRAE Guideline 12 through publication of the 2018 standard and 2020 guideline. He has also contributed to other industry guidance documents including AWWA, ASHE, ASPE and IAPMO.  He has coauthored five peer-reviewed papers, including collaborations with the CDC and multiple academic institutions.

Mr. Keane has presented to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and has trained public health officials and industry professionals nationwide on Legionella risk management and water system safety.

He is frequently engaged to:

• Perform outbreak root cause analysis
 • Evaluate standard of care and regulatory compliance
 • Assess engineering design and operational deficiencies
 • Provide expert testimony and litigation support