How much do you know about viruses?

The Wateroam team during deployment travels

With the recent emergence of an unfamiliar coronavirus, the world is desperate to understand the life-cycle of this new virus and ways to prevent its transmission. This current outbreak has spread to over 20 countries and healthcare professionals are doing their best to educate the public on safety measures. Everyone, including Wateroam, is taking precautions to stay healthy.

We've been hearing a lot of questions like “can you get coronavirus from water?” so we thought we’d collate some information for you and delve a little deeper into water transmissible viruses. 

First, an introduction to viruses in general

The word ‘virus’ comes from the latin word meaning poison, slime or venom. First discovered in humans about 120 years ago, it is believed that there are 380 trillion viruses inhabiting our bodies on a daily basis.

​The size of a virus varies from roughly 20 to 400 nanometers in diameter. To put this in perspective, 500 million rhinoviruses, cause of the common cold, can fit on to the head of a pin. Because of this, we tend not to notice viruses until the particularly vengeful ones enter our bodies. 

This extremely small, infectious agent is considered the ‘most abundant biological entity on the planet’. But something special about these unique microbes is that they can only replicate inside the living cells of another organism. This other organism is commonly known as their ‘host cell’. This characteristic limits where the virus can reproduce, but it doesn’t limit the survival of a virus outside of a host cell. Depending on the virus strain and the surrounding conditions, viruses can remain infectious from 20 minutes to 24 hours once they leave the body. Transmission includes but not limited to: respiratory droplets, fecal matter, contact with hard and soft surfaces, vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks, and WATER. 
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​Because of this, it is important to wash your hands regularly, disinfect all surfaces that have been in contact with the virus, protect yourself against vector-transmission, and filter any water that has potentially been contaminated. If you need to check if your drinking water is safe for consumption, read our blog here.
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Now, let’s see how much you know about virus transmission in water!
Check your answers at the bottom of the page

1. What filtration method is NOT able to remove viruses in water?

A. Boiling
B. Microfiltration
C. Reverse osmosis
D. Ultrafiltration

2. The ability of a virus to survive in water is dependent on which three things?

A. Temperature, Light, pH
B. Turbidity, Light, pH
C. Light, Turbidity, Color
D. Temperature, pH, Color

3. Which has the highest influence on the survival of a virus in water?

A. pH
B. Light
C. Temperature
D. Turbidity

4. Which types of water can viruses survive in? (select all that apply)

A. Salt water
B. Fresh water
C. Waste water
D. Rain water

5. Which of the following viruses are known to be transmitted by water? (Hint: there are ten listed)

Polioviruses
Adenovirus
Dengue virus 
Influenza
Hepatitis A

Hepatitis B
Rotavirus
Norovirus
Coxsackieviruses
Hepatitis C

Astrovirus
Caliciviruses
Enteroviruses
Hepatitis E
​West Nile Virus

"But coronaviruses aren't on that list!"
That's true, we left it out because we don't want to make a claim that doesn't have sufficient evidence to support or negate it. Some articles have mentioned that SARS and COVID-19 may have been transmitted to residents on different floors of residential buildings through piping; or that fecal contamination is possible in rare, specific cases. However, the article here suggests that coronaviruses die off rapidly in wastewater  and in fecal-shedding,  therefore suggesting that fecal-transmission is unlikely.  As more studies are undertaken to confirm this, the best action is to create protective barriers against all fecal disease transmission.

Many of the viruses on this list are known to be transmitted via the fecal-oral route. This means virus particles are shed through the feces of an ill person, usually through diarrhea; improper hand-washing, consumption of contaminated agriculture or food,  or the ingestion of contaminated water can cause an infection and serious illness.

(Sources: Wagner and Lanoix 1959, World Bank Group 2013)

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Vigilant hygiene, safe water sources and improved sanitation are the keys to preventing the transmission and outbreak of waterborne viruses. You can get a water filtration solution today for a community that needs a clean water supply.

Answers and explanations from the quiz here:
1. B - Microfiltration can filter bacteria but is not small enough to filter viruses
​2. A - Temperature, Light, and pH all influence how long a virus can survive in water
​3. C - Temperature:  the temperature of the water and surrounding conditions have the greatest influence on virus survival. Viruses survive longer in lower temperatures​.
4. A - Salt water; B- Fresh water; C- Waste water. Viruses can thrive in these surface waters. Collected Rain Water can contain viruses if it is contaminated during collection or storage.
5. Adenovirus, Astrovirus, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E, Rotavirus, Norovirus, Coxsackieviruses, Polioviruses, Caliciviruses, and Enteroviruses are all known water born viruses

Now that you know all about waterborne viruses, we hope you'll do your part in spreading the knowledge and safe practices to keep yourself and those around you healthy!


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Blog Author: Michelle Falcone

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Various sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_viruses_in_water
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/256521#transmission
https://microbiologysociety.org/why-microbiology-matters/what-is-microbiology/viruses.html
​https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158179#viral-diseases
​https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/infections/how-long-do-bacteria-and-viruses-live-outside-the-body/ 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-long-do-cold-and-flu-viruses-stay-contagious-on-public-surfaces
​https://www.livescience.com/53272-what-is-a-virus.html
https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/36/4/786/518976