4. 4
Who We Are
Largest and most
geographically diverse
publicly traded water and
wastewater service provider
in the United States
โข We serve a broad national
footprint and a strong local
presence
โข We provide services to
approximately 15 million people
in 46 states
1
BILLIONGallons of water treated and delivered
every day
Employees serving communities
nationwide
6,80
0
25+
Every day, we operate and manage:
โข 52,500 miles of transmission,
distribution and
collection mains and pipes
โข 80 surface water treatment plants
โข 140 wastewater
5. 5
Our Research Purpose
5
โข Establish water quality and customer health
impacts from existing and emerging contaminants
of human health concern
โข Provide technical solutions for operational and
water quality issues in drinking water and
wastewater
6. 6
Existing Water Quality Challenges
6
โข >150 million unique chemicals
โข novel substances synthesized 2.6 sec
โข Organics, inorganics, radiologicals, disinfectants
and Disinfectant By Products (DBPs)
โข >1,400 microbes can potentially impact water
II. Microbes
I. Chemicals- organics and inorganics
7. 7
Multi-Barrier Treatment
7
โข Treatment
โข Barriers: Performing
treatment with certified
operator to improve the
quality of the source
water
โข Storage and Distribution
โข Barriers: Constructing,
operating and maintaining
well engineered storage
facilities and distribution
systems
Barrier # 3:
Compliance
โข Monitoring and Public
Information
โข Barriers: Providing
customers with
information on water
quality and health
effects
Barrier # 4:
Public Information
โข Source Water
โข Barriers: Selecting
& protecting the
best source of
supply
Barrier # 2:
Risk Management
Barrier # 1:
Risk Prevention
9. 9
Coronavirus
โข 100โs of coronaviruses: mostly in animals (e.g. pigs,
camels, bats and cats). In humans mostly responsible
for mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses,
like the common cold.
โข Last 20 years 3 new coronaviruses emerged from
animal reservoirs causing serious and widespread
illness and death.
โข SARS-CoV: emerged in November 2002 and caused
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Disappeared by 2004.
โข MERS: Transmitted from camels & identified in
September 2012. Continues to cause sporadic and
localized outbreaks.
โข SARS-CoV-2: Began in China Dec 2019, caused COVID-
19 and declared a global pandemic by the World
Health Organization on March 11, 2020.
Diameter: approx. 100 nm, mass: 1 fg
12. 12
Environmental Significance
โข SARS-CoV2 levels in wastewater similar to other enteric viruses
โข 32 billions gallons daily and approx. 2 billion reused
โข Most microbes have a tendency attach to particles.
โข Surrogates for enveloped viruses (e.g. murine hepatitis virus (MHV) and Pseudomonas phage
ฯ6) confirm higher partitioning to solids than non-enveloped viruses.
โข Partitioning to solid phase helps removal through settling or separation (e.g. coagulation,
filtration, etc.)
Other factors contributing to reduction in virus loads in water and wastewater include:
โข Dilution effects in wastewater or large water bodies
โข Natural die-off or death due to environmental stress, time or through treatment
โข Rapid inactivation through chemical or physical disinfection
13. 13
Virus survival
โข SARS-CoV-2 is enveloped and less stable than non-enveloped human enteric viruses (e.g.
adenoviruses, norovirus, rotavirus and hepatitis A) usually encountered in drinking or wastewater
Human coronaviruses survival
โข Like SARS-CoV1 survival for 2 hours to 9 days on surfaces.
โข Influencing factors: type of surface, temperature, relative humidity and the strain of the virus
Common disinfectants (i.e. 70% ethanol or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite) kill within 1 min
โข 4 weeks in reagent grade water at 25ยฐC.
โข 2 days in dechlorinated tap water at 20ยฐC.
โข > 4 log removal of influenza virus in drinking-water with 0.3 mg/L chlorine for 5 min
โข 3 log of coronaviruses in primary sewage effluent at 23ยฐC after 2 days
No evidence so far that SARS-CoV2 transmitted through wastewater with or
without treatment
14. 14
Treatability Summary
Higher temperature, high or low pH and
sunlight all kill virus
โข Human feces
โข 2%-27% people with COVID-19 have diarrhea
โข Class B biosolids
โข Class A biosolids
15. 15
Best Practices for Wastewater
Workers
Important to adhere to appropriate PPE requirements:
โข Protective outerwear
โข Heavy-duty gloves
โข Boots
โข Goggles or a face shield, and a mask
โข Hand hygiene
โข Avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth
โข Social distancing
Risk is lowโฆbut not Absent