Professors Timothy LaPara and Raymond Hozalski, MSI PIs from the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, are leading a study of whether the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 might be spread through drinking water. While most drinking-water supplies are treated, which would kill the virus, experts don’t know whether water that comes from private wells or from areas that don’t treat their water might be contaminated. The contamination could occur via waste from an infected person that enters a septic system and, from there, into the groundwater. It is currently not known how much virus can be shed from an infected person’s stool.
A story about this research appears on the website of Minnesota Public Radio: U of M Researchers to Study Whether Coronavirus Could Get Into Drinking Water.
Professor LaPara and Professor Hozalski both use MSI for research that studies the microbiome of drinking water and sewage.