Written by April Day, Publishing Director for Save The Water™ | April 10th, 2020
Above all, government sources, local water treatment plants, and international water organizations agree that the transmission of covid-19 through drinking water and wastewater is low. Generally, current treatment technologies eliminate viruses and bacteria, including the new coronavirus. Also, there is no evidence indicating that the new coronavirus stays in drinking water or wastewater after water treatment. That’s the good news. That said, you may want to think about two other things: (1) employees at water treatment plants, (2) the need for more research about the new coronavirus and water.
Coronavirus and Employees at Waterworks
For cities that have drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, authorities believe that the risk of the new coronavirus surviving in treated water is low. This belief depends on the current infrastructure continuing to work as it works now. Depending on how many people become sick, employees at water treatment plants may also get sick. As a result of their illnesses, covid-19 could be spread through water because people aren’t there to run the facilities.
In fact, across California, waterworks have been planning for just that scenario. For example, some water plant employees now live next to water treatment plants and have stopped contact with others, including their own families. The employees do this to reduce the risk of getting covid-19. In short, they want to try to ensure that the chance of covid-19 transmission through water stays low.
In addition, the employees are signed up to go to work wherever needed through the California Water Agency Response Network (Cal-WARN). Also, the National Guard stands ready to help smaller water treatment facilities. Finally, water plants have asked retirees to return to work. We should applaud them all.
Coronavirus and Water: Questions Suggested, Answers Needed
Although the chance of coronavirus transmission through drinking water or wastewater is thought to be low, chemical engineer researchers suggest that more testing is needed to figure out if current water treatments effectively remove covid-19. Specifically, these researchers are associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of California, Riverside Haizhou Liu and Professor Vincenzo Naddeo, director of the Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division at the University of Salerno. They pointed out that covid-19 could be moved through microscopic droplets of water. These microscopic droplets of water are called “aerosols.” Aerosols enter the environment through evaporation or spray, or by sneezing.
Because of this, they published their concerns in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, a leading environmental journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom. As an example, they pointed to the 2003 SARS pandemic, during which a sewage leak in Hong Kong caused a cluster of SARS cases through aerosolization. Aerosolization means being dispersed as an aerosol (microscopic droplets).
Accordingly, Liu and Naddeo recommended upgrading both water and wastewater treatment infrastructure where covid-19 outbreaks have occurred. In addition, they recommended investigating biofilms. Biofilms are microorganisms that can grow and collect on surfaces. To be sure, we highlighted the need for upgrading the aging water infrastructure in America here.
What You Can Do
You can help by doing three things.
- Throw away wipes in the trash, not the toilet.
- Follow directives about staying safe in your location.
- Wash your hands with clean water and soap, if you can.
References
- Paul Rogers. April 1, 2020. “Coronavirus: Is the drinking water safe?” The Mercury News.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/01/coronavirus-is-the-drinking-water-supply-safe/ - ScienceDaily. April 3, 2020. “Removing the novel coronavirus from the water cycle.” ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200403132347.htm
- Water Environment Federation. April 3, 2020. Current Priority: Coronavirus. https://www.wef.org/news-hub/current-priorities/coronavirus/
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Coronavirus and Drinking Water and Wastewater. https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-drinking-water-and-wastewater
- Aparna Vidyasagar. December 22, 2016. “What Are Biofilms?” LiveScience. https://www.livescience.com/57295-biofilms.html
