Can The Coronavirus Spread Via Pipe-Building?
This is a recent question we have received from our customers who live in high rise buildings or 3 to 40 story condominium communities. Twin Home Experts is an established plumbing company who specializes in condominiums and high rise building plumbing. We wanted to offer our 30 years of plumbing experience and provide you the answers as to how the virus can spread through your plumbing system if you live in a building community.
COVID-19 & Your Plumbing System
There are 2 plumbing systems in every building structure.
- Waste plumbing: The sewer and drain waste system sends our body fluids out to the city sewer treatment plant.
- Water plumbing: Water pipes supply the building with hot and cold water to every fixture.
Can the Coronavirus Disease Spread through Drinking Water?
The COVID-19 virus has not been detected in drinking water. Conventional water treatment methods that use filtration and disinfection, such as those in most municipal drinking water systems, should remove or inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19.
Can the Coronavirus Disease Spread through the Sewer System?
Twin Home Experts performs hundreds of sewer and drain repairs that first start with sewage back ups or major sewer odors that can sometimes cause evacuation of homeowners in buildings. So, when it comes to the plumbing system this is where the coronavirus has potential to spread.
A statement from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention):
“The virus that causes COVID-19 has been detected in the feces of some patients diagnosed with COVID-19. The amount of virus released from the body (shed) in stool, how long the virus is shed, and whether the virus in stool is infectious are not known.
Twin Home Experts Professional Opinion on How the Coronavirus Can Spread in Building Pipes
The sewer system has drain pipes and ventilation pipes. These pipes are stacked and feed ALL units from the ground floor and are shared amongst ALL homeowners between each floor. The sewer ventilation system runs through every floor and eventually terminate through the roof. This entire plumbing system is shared and runs through all the walls, floors and common areas of a building.
COVID-19 Warning Signs from Plumbing System in a Building
The only warning signs that you should be aware of is ANY sewer odors in your home. If there is a strong sewer odor, then you need to take action immediately.
How Can I Determine if My Plumbing System is Coronavirus-free?
The only way to determine this is to perform a UV smoke test by injecting a sufficient amount of smoke into the entire sewer and vent pipe system. This will identify ANY breaches in the plumbing system, then smoke will omit from your walls or ceilings which indicates you have a problem. This is where the coronavirus can become airborne and become aerosolized.
Contact Us
Twin Home Experts is a “one call does it all” service provider and is always available 24/7 to help you. If you have any more questions or concerns that we may not have answered, please reach out to us at 480 680 8987 or email us [email protected].
