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Vosloo S, Huo L, Chauhan U, Cotto I, Gincley B, Vilardi KJ, Yoon B, Bian K, Gabrielli M, Pieper KJ, Stubbins A, Pinto AJ. Gradual Recovery of Building Plumbing-Associated Microbial Communities after Extended Periods of Altered Water Demand during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:3248-3259. [PMID: 36795589 PMCID: PMC9969676 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c07333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
COVID-19 pandemic-related building restrictions heightened drinking water microbiological safety concerns post-reopening due to the unprecedented nature of commercial building closures. Starting with phased reopening (i.e., June 2020), we sampled drinking water for 6 months from three commercial buildings with reduced water usage and four occupied residential households. Samples were analyzed using flow cytometry and full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing along with comprehensive water chemistry characterization. Prolonged building closures resulted in 10-fold higher microbial cell counts in the commercial buildings [(2.95 ± 3.67) × 105 cells mL-1] than in residential households [(1.11 ± 0.58) × 104 cells mL-1] with majority intact cells. While flushing reduced cell counts and increased disinfection residuals, microbial communities in commercial buildings remained distinct from those in residential households on the basis of flow cytometric fingerprinting [Bray-Curtis dissimilarity (dBC) = 0.33 ± 0.07] and 16S rRNA gene sequencing (dBC = 0.72 ± 0.20). An increase in water demand post-reopening resulted in gradual convergence in microbial communities in water samples collected from commercial buildings and residential households. Overall, we find that the gradual recovery of water demand played a key role in the recovery of building plumbing-associated microbial communities as compared to short-term flushing after extended periods of reduced water demand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solize Vosloo
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 021115, United States
| | - Linxuan Huo
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
| | - Umang Chauhan
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 021115, United States
| | - Irmarie Cotto
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 021115, United States
| | - Benjamin Gincley
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
| | - Katherine J. Vilardi
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 021115, United States
| | - Bryan Yoon
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 021115, United States
| | - Kaiqin Bian
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
| | - Marco Gabrielli
- Dipartimento
di Ingegneria Civile e Ambientale - Sezione Ambientale, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Kelsey J. Pieper
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 021115, United States
| | - Aron Stubbins
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 021115, United States
| | - Ameet J. Pinto
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
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Goldin J, Nhamo L, Ncube B, Zvimba JN, Petja B, Mpandeli S, Nomquphu W, Hlophe-ginindza S, Greeff-laubscher MR, Molose V, Lottering S, Liphadzi S, Naidoo D, Mabhaudhi T. Resilience and Sustainability of the Water Sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability 2022; 14:1482. [DOI: 10.3390/su14031482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented socio-economic changes, ushering in a “new (ab)normal” way of living and human interaction. The water sector was not spared from the effects of the pandemic, a period in which the sector had to adapt rapidly and continue providing innovative water and sanitation solutions. This study unpacks and interrogates approaches, products, and services adopted by the water sector in response to the unprecedented lockdowns, heralding novel terrains, and fundamental paradigm shifts, both at the community and the workplace. The study highlights the wider societal perspective regarding the water and sanitation challenges that grappled society before, during, after, and beyond the pandemic. The premise is to provide plausible transitional pathways towards a new (ab)normal in adopting new models, as evidenced by the dismantling of the normal way of conducting business at the workplace and human interaction in an era inundated with social media, virtual communication, and disruptive technologies, which have transitioned absolutely everything into a virtual way of life. As such, the novel approaches have fast-tracked a transition into the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), with significant trade-offs to traditional business models and human interactions.
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