There are stories emerging about college campuses throughout the nation testing wastewater for traces of COVID-19 in an effort to predict potential outbreaks. In at least one case, the effort is already paying off.
Utah State University health officials are quarantining and testing students for the virus after it was detected in the some of the school’s dorm room wastewater.
The school released an alert to regional health departments and started working to immediately test the 287 students who reside in the affected residence halls.
Worker Drowns at North Carolina Water Treatment Plant
A contracted worker for the city of Reidsville, North Carolina, died in an apparent drowning accident at the Reidsville Water Treatment Plant, according to Rockingham Now.
Not much else was known at the time of publication about the incident, but OSHA was notified and will investigate the drowning.
Hurricane Laura Leaves Louisiana Residents Without Water
Residents across southwestern Louisiana could face weeks without municipal drinking water while crews work to clean up the destruction left behind after Hurricane Laura.
The Category 4 hurricane left at least 600,000 customers from 72 water systems without clean water. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says Hurricane Laura has a wider path of damage than Hurricane Rita did.
Xylem Delivers 100,000 Face Shields to Front-Line Workers
Xylem Inc. recently announced it has manufactured and delivered more than 100,000 protective face shields in Europe and the United States in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative leveraged internal manufacturing capabilities including three-dimensional printing and injection molding.
Beginning in March, Xylem partners helped deliver the face shields to healthcare facilities on the front lines of critical care and to utilities with water operators working to keep essential services flowing in local communities. To distribute the face shields, Xylem Watermark, Xylem’s corporate social responsibility program, worked with partner organizations around the world.
