Significance and Impact of the Study: The role of growth phase-dependent variations in cell surface hydrophobicity and charge on adhesion of the opportunistic pathogen Legionella pneumophila to plumbing materials remains poorly described. In this study, we characterized the effect of L. pneumophila cell surface properties on adhesion to stainless steel, an increasingly used plumbing material in potable water systems. These results help us understand the persistence of L. pneumophila in engineered water systems. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the role of growthdependent variations of L. pneumophila cell surface properties in adhesion to a plumbing material surface.