I have been a consultant microbiologist and infection control doctor since 1990. My interest in water was originally stimulated whilst working at the regional burn centre at Queen Mary's University Hospital Roehampton. I was the DIPC at the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire during the construction of the new hospital which started in 2001 and was completed in August 2006. Within nine months of opening there was a legionella contamination of the water systems and a pseudomonas outbreak on the neonatal intensive care unit originating from water systems. I currently chair the Healthcare Infection Society working party on water.