Why the COVID Pandemic Must Increase our Focus on Drains

In March 2020, professors from Montana State University's microbiology and immunology department were asked to test the wastewater in Bozeman, Montana, to see if there were traces of COVID-19 in the water.

The professors were skeptical. Bozeman only has about 50,000 people, and about six million gallons of water flow through the wastewater plant every day. Further, as far as COVID is concerned, the state had reported virtually no cases at that time.

The professors doubted they would find any vestiges of the disease. However, to their unfortunate surprise, they did find evidence of the virus in four samples over the next ten days.?

But how could this be? ?In Montana, there would be few cases of the virus for weeks, if not months, to come. The professors believe what they uncovered was that many people in the state were already carrying the disease, even in the sparsely populated sections, as early as March. However, they were asymptomatic.

?Due to these findings, the university and state public health officials began hastening COVID testing throughout Montana. Furthermore, given the fact that asymptomatic people are less likely to get tested, the professors, along with state officials, decided to keep assessing wastewater throughout the state on an ongoing basis.?? ?

They would use the results as a way of determining if coronavirus might be in a community, and as indicated, increase testing and encourage citizens to wear masks, social distance, and take other recognized steps to control the spread of the disease.1

COVID, SARS, Plumbing, and Drains

Another step the state of Montana - and all municipalities – should take is to encourage everyone to make sure the "P" traps in their drains are working correctly. ?This is especially true in schools, which ordinarily are often closed for weeks and months at a time, and due to COVID, may have been closed since about March of this year.

The reason for this focus on drains is based on lessons learned from the SARS epidemic back in 2002, at the city's Amoy Gardens apartments. ?Further, because SARS and COVID-19 are in the same family of viruses and are spread in many of the same ways – primarily by the inhalation of airborne pathogens - what we learned from SARS can help us in our efforts to slow the spread of COVID. ?

According to a report in the South China Morning Post, architects and engineers concluded, "the spread of SARS at [the] Amoy Gardens was caused by the design of the U-bend pipes. This caused the floor drains of the wash basins and baths to dry up if not refilled constantly and thereby provided a channel for the virus to spread [by inhalation] from one flat to another."?2 ?

Exacerbating the problem, when residents of the complex turned on their blowers to remove odors from kitchens and bathrooms, including sewer odors, the blowers essentially sucked the infected droplets up the drainage pipes, into the air, where they could be inhaled by the tenants.? ?

Other studies have come to this same conclusion. They found that many of the people in Hong Kong who contracted the SARS virus did so by inhaling contaminated air as air from wastewater sewage that made its way up floor drainage pipes of the large apartment complex.?In time, this apartment complex had the single highest number of SARS cases during the entire epidemic. Approximately 300 people became ill with SARS in these apartments, and 35 died.

Fumes and odors commonly come up from drainage pipes in all parts of the world and in all types of facilities.

For instance, in October 2019, several people working in laboratories at Princeton University reported "instances of unpleasant odors," causing students and professors to call the University's Environmental Health Services (EHS) hotline. ?

The cause was "was dry sink and floor drain traps" worsened by the fact that "most labs [at the University] are kept in negative pressure, allowing air to circulate up and out fume hoods and ventilation systems. This makes it more likely that odors will be drawn out of dry traps."?3

In many ways, this was exactly what happened with SARS in the Amory Apartments.?

And now, as they reopen after being closed for months due to coronavirus, many commercial buildings, stores, and schools are vulnerable to similar problems. Building owners, managers, and their plumbing professionals are encouraged to do the following:

·??????Test all plumbing throughout their properties, to ensure the water released is potable and does not include impurities.

·??????Ensure that all P-traps under all drains are working properly.

Prevention

Because this is an ongoing problem, with the potential for causing serious health risks, the best way to deal with dried-out P-traps is to simply make sure it does not happen.?One simple step that managers could have taken in the Amory Apartments would have been to require all tenants to pour a small amount of water in their floor drains about once per week.

However, this is not always practical. In fact, this was the same recommendation of the EHS department at Princeton, but it proved to be only a temporary fix.

The problem continued and the EHS had to take the next step, advising that "when planning or renovating labs, do not install more sinks than are necessary. Unused sinks may develop dry traps, resulting in odor complaints.”??

However, in situations like we are experiencing today due to the pandemic - where entire buildings have been shut down for months – just pouring some water down drains may not only be impractical, and because of time constraints and other challenges, it may not always be possible. ?Instead, we need long term solutions that help keep these traps filled so they can block sewer fumes for long periods of time, whether the facility is used or not.

?An inexpensive option, which plumbers can certainly recommend to their clients, are liquids designed to be poured down drains to keep the P-trap from drying out. Available under different names, but often referred to as an "EverPrime" at least one is totally biodegradable and can withstand hot as well as freezing conditions and does not evaporate.

If these liquids had been used in Hong Kong, it could have prevented the SARS epidemic. We should take seriously the warning provided through wastewater assessment like those in Montana. Follow these simple steps to help drains and P- traps to do their job of preventing fumes from circulating. While they can't prevent the current COVID pandemic, they should be considered one more weapon in our arsenal to help slow this virus from spreading.

A frequent speaker and author on water conservation issues, Klaus Reichardt is founder and CEO of Waterless Co. Inc, Vista, CA, makers of waterless urinals and other restroom products.?He founded the company in 1991 with the goal to establish a new market segment in the plumbing fixture industry with water conservation in mind. He may be reached at [email protected]

1 "Sewers Are Now a COVID-19 Early-Warning System

Wastewater samples can give communities a near-immediate snapshot of how the pandemic is spreading," by Jane C. Hue, published in High Country News, September 5, 2020.

2 Amoy Gardens to be fitted with anti-Sars drainage system; Feb 5, 2003

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2 Keep Drain Traps from Drying Out, October 7, 2019

https://ehs.princeton.edu/news/keep-drain-traps-drying-out

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