Pace® Accelerates U.S. Water Safety Programs With DIAMIDEX Next-Generation Legionella Technology

Through an exclusive partnership with U.S. distributor HC3, Pace® deploys the MICA Advance platform at its Pittsburgh Center of Excellence—the nation’s premier authority on Legionella testing.

Pittsburgh, PA — Pace®, a premier leader in U.S. laboratory services, has announced the integration of the DIAMIDEX MICA Advance platform into its environmental testing portfolio. Deployed at its Pittsburgh, PA laboratory—internationally recognized as the historic epicenter of Legionella research and standard-setting—this pioneering technology bridges the gap between speed and regulatory compliance. It allows facility managers and water treatment professionals to detect and quantify culturable Legionella pneumophila in just 48 hours.

In the United States, Legionnaires’ disease represents a critical public health crisis and a massive financial liability for commercial, healthcare, and industrial facilities. CDC research estimates direct medical costs exceeding $402 million annually, with Legionella consistently ranking as a leading cause of waterborne outbreaks and fatalities nationwide.

Breaking the 14-Day Waiting Barrier at the Nation’s Premiere Lab

For decades, the primary bottleneck in effective Water Management Plans (WMPs) has been the turnaround time of traditional plate culture testing, which CDC guidelines state requires 7 to 14 days. This prolonged waiting period leaves water management teams blind to potential colonization or unable to quickly verify if an immediate remediation action was successful.

Pace® addresses this critical vulnerability by introducing the MICA Advance technology, developed by French microbiology innovator DIAMIDEX, directly into its Pittsburgh Center of Excellence (formerly Special Pathogens Laboratory, founded by pioneering Legionella expert Dr. Janet Stout). By utilizing micro-colony detection and automated optical reading, the system delivers precise, culture-based enumeration of Legionella pneumophila in a fraction of the time. Pace® customers will now receive actionable data reported within 3 business days.

A New National Standard Supported by HC3

The adoption of MICA Advance by Pace’s premier Legionella laboratory marks a definitive milestone for DIAMIDEX’s American expansion, establishing the platform as a core technology for high-stakes environmental testing. The nationwide rollout is supported and distributed exclusively in the United States by HC3 (HealthCare Consulting & Contracting), an elite firm specializing in exposure science, industrial hygiene, and comprehensive Legionella risk mitigation.

By combining the unparalleled scientific legacy of the Pittsburgh laboratory with DIAMIDEX’s rapid automated culture technology, this partnership delivers an unmatched level of defensibility and operational speed to the U.S. market.

While rapid laboratory insights significantly enhance proactive routine monitoring and post-remediation verification, Pace® emphasizes that this service acts as a powerful to enhancement, not a replacement for, robust facility water management programs and immediate protective actions.

Facility owners, water treatment professionals, and environmental consultants can now contact their dedicated Pace® representative to seamlessly integrate this rapid culture testing into their risk management protocols.

About Pace®

Pace® makes the world a safer, healthier place. Committed to advancing the science of businesses, industries, consulting firms, government agencies, and others, Pace® offers local-level service backed by a national laboratory network. Through in-lab and emergency onsite services, Pace® ensures our air, water, soil, and more are safe. Environmental & Analytical Testing Labs – Pace® Analytical

About HC3

HealthCare Consulting and Contracting (HC3) is a veteran-owned company specializing in Legionella, and other emerging waterborne pathogens, industrial hygiene risk assessments and mitigation of microbial contamination. HC3 toxicologists and certified industrial hygienists’ partner with state-of-the-art accredited laboratories and occupational health physicians to deliver scientific-based solutions to workplace and indoor contamination. As the official USA distributor for Diamidex MICA Advance, HC3 leads the way in water safety, microbial risk management, and reliable test methods. MICA Rapid Legionella Detection in 48 Hours | HC3FL

About DIAMIDEX

Driven by the mission to make the invisible visible, faster, to make the world safer, DIAMIDEX develops and manufactures the proprietary MICA culture-based platform by combining its own automated equipment, chemicals, and AI-developed software. MICA eliminates human error for highly reliable CFU results, providing fast water and beverage testing solutions to leading laboratories across more than 14 countries. Diamidex - Counting Microorganisms Faster