Water Transmission & COVID-19
March 17, 2020
Center for Disease Control
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/water.html
Water Transmission and COVID-19
Drinking Water, Recreational Water and Wastewater: What You Need to Know
Can the COVID-19 virus 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.
World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/publications-detail/water-sanitation-hygiene-and-waste-management-for-covid-19
See Page 2 of the WHO Technical Brief
Currently, there is no evidence about the survival of the COVID-19 virus in drinking-water or sewage.
The morphology and chemical structure of the COVID-19 virus are similar to those of other surrogate
human coronaviruses for which there are data about both survival in the environment and effective
inactivation measures. Thus, this brief draws upon the existing evidence base and, more generally,
existing WHO guidance on how to protect against viruses in sewage and drinking-water. This
document is based on the current knowledge of the COVID-19 virus and it will be updated as new
information becomes available.
US Environmental Protection Agency
https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-drinking-water-and-wastewater#tapwater
Is drinking tap water safe?
EPA recommends that Americans continue to use and drink tap water as usual. The World Health Organization (WHO)Exithas stated that the, “presence of the COVID-19 virus has not been detected in drinking-water supplies and based on current evidence the risk to water supplies is low.”1 Additionally, according to the CDC, COVID-19 is mainly thought to spread between people who are in close contact with one another. Read more from the CDC about transmission of COVID-19. Further, EPA’s drinking water regulations require treatment at public water systems to remove or kill pathogens, including viruses.