As lockdowns lift, new hazards lurk in the water
▻https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01286-9
The longer a building sits unused, the more potential there is for harm. That’s because the length of time between water treatment and use is one of the key factors determining bacterial regrowth, says Joan Rose, an environmental microbiologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing. One of the main concerns is Legionella, a genus of bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease.
Legionnaires’ — the leading reported waterborne disease in the United States — attacks the body’s respiratory system. So, declining water quality could compound the strain on already stressed public-health systems, Proctor says. “The same people that are vulnerable to #COVID are going to be vulnerable to these bacterial pathogens.”
Water quality in a complex building can vary by season, by time of day or even from room to room. So one-size-fits-all guidelines for maintaining or flushing systems are unlikely to help, Proctor says. The most common advice after a period of dormancy is to run all taps at full flow for a set amount of time — usually 5 or 10 minutes — to flush the stagnant water from the pipes.
But one building that the Purdue team studied required more than a full day to flush.
And the complications don’t stop there. For large complexes such as universities, there might not be enough staff to routinely flush every building. Already-struggling small businesses could baulk at the increased water bills that would result from proper flushing. And without sufficient masks and respirators, staff carrying out flushing operations are at risk of inhaling #Legionella and other pathogens that might be growing in the pipes.