Studying the impacts of non-routine extended schools' closure on heavy metal release into tap water

Ghoochani, Shima; Salehi, Maryam; DeSimone, Dave; Esfandarani, Mitra Salehi; Bhattacharjee, Linken

doi:10.1039/d2ew00149g

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Water within building plumbing stagnates during these periods of inactivity with potential deleterious changes in water quality, including the loss of residual disinfectant, increasing water temperatures in cold water lines, decreasing temperatures in hot water lines, and increases in bacterial concentrations, even for relatively brief periods (i.e., overnight to a few days). − Extended water stagnation of weeks to months has resulted in the release of toxic metals into tap water, biofilm formation and bacterial regrowth, and increases in turbidity, heterotrophic plate count bacteria, and endotoxins . There are also concerns regarding the increased risk of exposure to opportunistic pathogens, such as pathogenic strains of Legionella spp., which were observed after 6 months of water stagnation in inactive school buildings supplied with water containing residual free chlorine (<0.7 mg/L as Cl 2 ) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flushing Temporarily Improves Microbiological Water Quality for Buildings Supplied with Chloraminated Surface Water but Has Little Effect for Groundwater Supplies

Kim

Zhao

LaPara

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Microbial communities in premise plumbing systems were investigated after more than 2 months of long-term stagnation, during a subsequent flushing event, and during post-flush stagnation. Water samples were collected from showers in buildings supplied with chlorinated groundwater, untreated groundwater, and chloraminated surface water. The building supplied with chlorinated groundwater generally had the lowest bacterial concentrations across all sites (ranging from below quantification limit to 5.2 log copies/L). For buildings supplied with untreated groundwater, bacterial concentrations (5.0 to 7.6 log copies/L) and microbial community diversity index (ACE) values were consistent throughout sampling. Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and Legionella pneumophila were not detected in any groundwater-supplied buildings. Total bacteria, Legionella spp., and NTM were abundant in the surface water-supplied buildings following long-term stagnation (up to 7.6, 6.2, and 7.6 log copies/L, respectively). Flushing decreased these concentrations by ∼1 to >4 log units and reduced microbial community diversity, but the communities largely recovered within a week of post-flush stagnation. The results suggest that buildings supplied with disinfected surface water are more likely than buildings supplied with treated or untreated groundwater to experience deleterious changes in microbiological water quality during stagnation and that the water quality improvements from flushing with chloraminated water, while substantial, are short-lived.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flushing Temporarily Improves Microbiological Water Quality for Buildings Supplied with Chloraminated Surface Water but Has Little Effect for Groundwater Supplies

Kim

Zhao

LaPara

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Conveying not only the drinking water to the communities and irrigation water for agricultural purposes, but streams can also significantly wash away the waste, and provide habitat for wildlife and hydroelectricity. Often, it is used for several recreational purposes e.g., fishing, swimming, and boating [12][13][14]. The selected SW quantity variables are discharge and water level of the stream is highly influential on the overbank flooding in the surrounding area, demand of water supply, and fluvial ecology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous Prediction of Stream-Water Variables Using Multivariate Multi-Step Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network

Khosravi¹,

Duti²,

Yazdan³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Multivariate predictive analysis of the Stream-Water (SW) parameters (discharge, water level, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, and specific conductance) is a pivotal task in the field of water resource management during the era of rapid climate change. The highly dynamic and evolving nature of the meteorological and climatic features have a significant impact on the temporal distribution of the SW variables in recent days making the SW variables forecasting even more complicated for diversified water-related issues. To predict the SW variables, various physics-based numerical models are used using numerous hydrologic parameters. Extensive lab-based investigation and calibration are required to reduce the uncertainty involved in those parameters. However, in the age of data-informed analysis and prediction, several deep learning algorithms showed satisfactory performance in dealing with sequential data. In this research, a comprehensive Explorative Data Analysis (EDA) and feature engineering were performed to prepare the dataset to obtain the best performance of the predictive model. Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network regression model is trained using over several years of daily data to predict the SW variables up to one week ahead of time (lead time) with satisfactory performance. The performance of the proposed model is found highly adequate through the comparison of the predicted data with the observed data, visualization of the distribution of the errors, and a set of error matrices. Higher performance is achieved through the increase in the number of epochs and hyperparameter tuning. This model can be transferred to other locations with proper feature engineering and optimization to perform univariate predictive analysis and potentially be used to perform real-time SW variables prediction.

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“…Universities and school systems commonly experience fluctuating building occupancy due to the academic calendar year (e.g., summer break, winter holiday, or spring break) [1][2][3]. The academic calendar typically creates periodic weeks or months with low or no flow water levels in a building water distribution system (BWDS).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The academic calendar typically creates periodic weeks or months with low or no flow water levels in a building water distribution system (BWDS). However, the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders exacerbated issues related to water disruption and poor water quality conditions at university and school campus facilities [1][2][3][4][5]. During the pandemic, students were sent home, while some institutions maintained limited working hours for faculty and staff [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the pandemic, students were sent home, while some institutions maintained limited working hours for faculty and staff [4]. Drinking fountains and bottle fillers in many buildings were labeled as no-use to reduce the likelihood of surface transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus [2]. Initially, there was minimal awareness of how low-or non-use of the BWDS would reduce water quality and safety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing Building Water Disruptions in a Post-COVID World: Water Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Tool for Academic Institutions and School Settings

2023

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Fluctuating building occupancy during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to poor water quality and safety conditions in building water distribution systems (BWDSs). Natural disasters, man-made events, or academic institutional calendars (i.e., semesters or holiday breaks) can disrupt building occupant water usage, which typically increases water age within a BWDS. High water age, in turn, is known to propagate poor water quality and safety conditions, which potentially exposes building occupants to waterborne pathogens (e.g., Legionella) associated with respiratory disease or hazardous chemicals (e.g., lead). Other influencing factors are green building design and municipal water supply changes. Regardless of the cause, an increasing number of water management policies require building owners to improve building water management practices. The present study developed a Water Quality and Safety Risk Assessment (WQSRA) tool to address gaps in building water management for academic institutions and school settings. The tool is intended to assist with future implementation of water management programs as the result of pending policies for the built environment. The WQSRA was modeled after water management practices created for controlling water contaminants in healthcare facilities. Yet, a novel WQSRA tool was adapted specifically for educational settings to allow building owners to evaluate risk from water hazards to determine an appropriate level of risk mitigation measures for implementation. An exemplar WQSRA tool is presented for safety, facility, industrial hygiene, and allied professionals to address current gaps in building water management programs. Academic institutions and school settings should examine the WQSRA tool and formulate an organization-specific policy to determine implementation before, during, and after building water-disruptive events associated with natural or man-made disasters.

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Studying the impacts of non-routine extended schools' closure on heavy metal release into tap water

Abstract: The extensive school closures due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic resulted in prolonged water stagnation within the schools' plumbing for longer durations than routine schools’ holidays and summer breaks. Having...

Cited by 11 publications

References 48 publications

Flushing Temporarily Improves Microbiological Water Quality for Buildings Supplied with Chloraminated Surface Water but Has Little Effect for Groundwater Supplies

Flushing Temporarily Improves Microbiological Water Quality for Buildings Supplied with Chloraminated Surface Water but Has Little Effect for Groundwater Supplies

Simultaneous Prediction of Stream-Water Variables Using Multivariate Multi-Step Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network

Managing Building Water Disruptions in a Post-COVID World: Water Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Tool for Academic Institutions and School Settings

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