Polio Virus in Wastewater - What Does it Mean For Residents

Recent discoveries of Polio Virus in in the wastewater have residents in large cities concerned, should they be?

The Possibility of Cross-Contamination

Polio has only been found in wastewater recently, which means you shouldn’t be concerned about the possibility of ingestion. After all, we don’t drink wastewater.. do we? Well not intentionally, but the possibility of cross-contamination is a lot higher than 0%, which citizens rightfully find concerning. Public water systems are built with safeguards included, but the older a system gets the more susceptible it could be to failure. 

We’re getting a bit into the weeds here, but the reality is that cross contaminations occur fairly regularly, not at any incredibly high rate, but often enough to require consistent oversight from government authorities. Even with many precautions, cross-contamination is still possible, but the more possible connection points there are, the more likely a cross contamination is to occur. If this is a subject you’re more interested in, I’d recommend reading this EPA study.

Long story short, cross contaminations do occur, and they can be quite dangerous and costly to resolve. Cross-Contamination events are not incredibly common, but do happen often enough to warrant concern. 

Why Polio?

The Polio virus is as old as history itself, widely believed to be naturally occurring. Until recent history, outbreaks were relatively common. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that the Polio Vaccine was created and widely distributed, which significantly curbed cases in the United States. By the early 1990’s Polio was believed to have been completely eradicated within the states, although the disease was still present in other countries. 

Despite its designation as a bygone disease in the region, the reality is that a modern outbreak could be very difficult to manage and cause death and serious injury to large numbers, particularly in densely populated cities where diseases like Polio spreads very quickly.

Water Treatment Options

Disinfection is the name of the game when dealing with viruses. The most common and effective methods of dealing with this are chlorination and U.V. Light treatments. Water with too much chlorine in it can cause a different set of issues, but is almost certainly preferable to virus exposure.

Hurricane Home Solutions is a regional water treatment expert, servicing homeowners all across New York and Pennsylvania. We work with Water Right to bring the absolute best water treatment options on the market directly to the people who need it. Contact us today to get a free in-home water test and consultation on recommended treatment solutions.