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Center for Plumbing Safety

Resources from Others

Below is information provided by US and world agencies about building water safety and some are specific to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Webinars

World Health Organization (WHO) Recommendations for Recommissioning Buildings for Water Safety

[ 2010 document ]

  • Page 44: “Alternatively measures should be taken to ensure that the dead water is completely removed and the new fittings are flushed prior to being commissioned.”
  • Page 44-45: “It is important to keep all finished parts of the water installation dry until the whole system is commissioned for routine operation. If this is not possible sections that remain stagnant for extended periods should be thoroughly drained and disinfected prior to the system being commissioned.”
  • Page 59: “Water-using devices, end of plumbing devices and point of-use devices should be maintained to minimize microbial growth. These devices should be decommissioned when not in use and where possible drained. Water-using devices will often require decontamination prior to being returned to service.”
  • Page 60: “As part of remediation contaminated drinking water will need to be flushed from the entire distribution system including water-using devices, PoU and end of pipe devices. Treatment systems such as water softeners and filtration systems will need to be regenerated, backwashed or re-commissioned before being returned to service. Small filters at PoU could harbour contamination and may need replacing.”
  • Page 74: “At the time of commissioning, water quality should be documented by hygienic testing of microbial and chemical quality in an adequate set of drinking water samples. Initial higher intensity monitoring (additional samples and parameters) might be necessary depending on intended use of the facility, outcomes of inspection, any irregularities during construction or commissioning and delays in beginning of regular use. In these cases a water quality expert should be consulted.”

Worker and Building Occupant Safety for Flushing Building Water

Stagnant Water in Existing Buildings (there are many many more than shown below....)

Shock Disinfecting Building Water Systems

Restoring Water Service to Shutoff Buildings

Other Flushing Resources

Point-of-Use (POU) / Point-of-Entry (POE) Device Resources

Resources about the basics of plumbing

List of scientific reports specific to plumbing safety, contamination, and cleaning from various organizations

Links about coronavirus