It seems like you would get pretty nasty germs happily living in our plumbing (especially untreated well water).
I think about the water that can sit for prolonged periods in hot water tanks, stagnant water in dead end sections of the plumbing system (unused outside faucet etc), and the wet oxygen rich environment inside the faucet ends.
Yet you almost never hear about people getting sick from their water🤷🏽♂️
In: 1670
There’s a few big reasons.
1. We treat for it. You may have heard about chlorine in the water, or even smelled chlorine from a tap. Cities and treatment plants add chlorine or other chemicals to water so bacteria can’t survive in pipes. If you have a well, you’re supposed to bleach it every few months to keep bacteria at a safe level.
2. We prepare for it. This one took a long time to discover. Water heaters should be set to a minimum of 140 degrees farenheit, hot enough to kill bacteria, but also hot enough to burn you after a few minutes, so you should have a mixing valve in line that adds just enough cold water to bring the temperature down to safe levels. Water features like fountains and water falls used to be big things indoors, even hospitals and care homes were adding them to bring a little nature to people. Then we found out those water features were just big petri dishes full of bacteria. Which brings me to my next point.
3. We test for it! Cities and treatment plants regularly test thier water. People with wells should, too! Some hospitals even go so far testing and treating the incoming water. They’ve even been known to tell cities they have a legionaires disease outbreak because they test more often!
4. We got really lucky! That shiny brown metal called copper, one of the most used materials in plumbing lines and fixtures, is actually anti microbial! Some hospitals began researching the anti microbial effects of copper after switching from copper based foot or lever operated faucets to PVC based touchless automatic faucets. After switching some rooms and wings to ths new faucets, they noticed those areas were getting legionnaires disease outbreaks while the other rooms and wings with older faucets weren’t. Through the process of elimination, they discovered the new faucets would let small pockets of bacteria build up and grow. Not enough to make most healthy people sick, but if you’re in the hospital because you’re sick, it’s just enough.
Thanks for reading!
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