When college students return to campuses again, they could face a new coronavirus-related health risk.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting unused water sitting in pipes on campuses that were closed for months could present problems for students once colleges reopen.
“Plumbing is meant to be used,” said Andrew Whelton, an associate professor of civil engineering at Purdue University in Indiana.
Unused waters sits in pipes where the level of leached metals and harmful bacteria colonies can increase, according to the newspaper.
Once campuses reopen that water and the contaminants could end up in water bottles and shower heads.
The newspaper noted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidelines for minimizing the risks in water systems for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease.
The guidelines include running water and making certain basins are cleaned out when buildings reopen.
But Whelton said there have been no studies of water quality for water that has been in pipes for months at a time. He said the CDC guidelines are not tailored to specific plumbing systems.
David Jackson, assistant director of facilities management at the University of Iowa, said flushing water in “sinks, drinking fountains and restrooms” will soon start and will continue “approximately monthly” until building occupancy increases.
And Andrew DeWeese, a program manager at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, acknowledged: “We’re all kind of new to that part of this,”
If colleges remain shut down this fall, it would affect 20 million students and 3 million employees.