Four buildings and a flush: Lessons from degraded water quality and recommendations on building water management.

ABSTRACT: A reduction in building occupancy can lead to stagnant water in plumbing, and the potential consequences for water quality have gained increasing attention. To investigate this, a study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on water quality in four institutional buildings. Two of these buildings were old (>58 years) and large (>19,000 m²), while the other two were new (>13 years) and small (<11,000 m²). The study revealed significant decreases in water usage in the small buildings, whereas usage remained unchanged in the large buildings. Initial analysis found that residual chlorine was rarely detectable in cold/drinking water samples. Furthermore, the pH, dissolved oxygen, total organic carbon, and total cell count levels in the first draw of cold wate

SUBMITTER: Ra K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10579424 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature