A new study from researchers suggests commercial buildings with low-flow water designs could have safety issues in terms of water quality. It is largely due to the water sitting stagnant or still for longer periods of time. The group of researchers studied the water quality in a three-storey commercial building in Indiana over three weekends.
The study was done between January and February 2020 and the goal was to find out if water quality changed over the weekend when fewer people were in the building. The fewer people in the building means even less water than usual was moving through the pipes. The results appear to be yes, and they were published in the journal PLOS Water.
The study explained that “weekend stagnation influenced chemical and biological water quality, with clear differences in several parameters on Friday, after a week of use, and Monday, after a weekend with relatively little use,” Even though the study was done before the pandemic, it brings up concerns that commercial buildings which sat nearly empty for months still have lingering water quality issues.
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