Survival of surrogate coronaviruses in water, by Lisa Casanova, William A. Rutala, David J. Weber, Mark D. Sobsey, Water Res. 2009 Apr; 43(7): 1893–1898. Published online 2009 Feb 10. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2009.02.002

PMCID: PMC7112071

See Conclusion “coronaviruses can remain infectious for long periods in water and pasteurized settled sewage, suggesting contaminated water is a potential vehicle for human exposure if aerosols are generated.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/05/03/can-covid-19-coronavirus-live-in-water-what-about-drinking-water-and-swimming/

It looks like the COVID-19 coronavirus may be able to live in water for a few days, potentially even a few weeks. There is a big but, though. And you’ll like this big but. Just because a virus can survive in water doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s present in large enough concentrations to infect you.

Is this situation a bit like a teenager pointing out a few hairs on his face and then claiming that it’s a beard? There actually has to be enough hairs to make it a beard. When you can still count the number of hairs, it’s not a beard, unless, of course, the hairs are really, really long and very, very curly.

Similarly, consider what is known about the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in water. Indeed studies have suggested that the SARS-CoV2 could actually hang out in the wet stuff for a little while. For example, a study published in the journal Water Research in 2009 found that two viruses that have similarities to the original SARS virus, the transmissible gastroenteritis (TGEV) and mouse hepatitis (MHV) viruses, could survive up to days and even weeks in water. The University of North Carolina team (LisaCasanova, William A.Rutal, David J.Weber, and Mark D.Sobsey) that conducted the study concluded that “coronaviruses can remain infectious for long periods in water and pasteurized settled sewage, suggesting contaminated water is a potential vehicle for human exposure if aerosols are generated.”

Then there was the poopy study described by a paper posted April 17 on medRxiv. For this study, the team sampled sewage (you know, the watery stuff in sewers) in the greater Paris, France, area for over a month. They found that concentrations of the SARS-CoV2 correlated with the number of COVID-19 cases in the region over time. In other words, when COVID-19 cases were rising, so did the concentrations of the SARS-CoV2 in the sewage. This seems like one more reason why splashing sewage or taking a deep breath near sewage is probably not a great idea.

Take this second study with a grain of sewage though. It has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. That means real scientific experts haven’t had a chance to review the study for quality or accuracy. Telling people that you’ve posted something on medRxiv can be a bit like telling people that you’ve auditioned for America’s Got Talent. There’s no guarantee that this study will ever make it close to the final stage of getting published in a reputable peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Regardless, the results from both studies do suggest that the virus can survive for a little while in water, which initially may cause you to wet yourself. Before you do, here’s the big but again. Neither study showed that you can actually get infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus from water under the conditions that you’d normally be exposed to water. That means via drinking (assuming that you aren’t drinking sewage or some other type of dirty water), showering, or swimming (assuming that you don’t swim in sewage.)

In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the COVID-19 coronavirus hasn’t even been found in drinking water. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said that “the risk to water supplies is low. Americans can continue to use and drink water from their tap as usual.” Such a virus would have to get through all of the filtration and water treatments that drinking water typically goes through, and that can be harder than getting on to the red carpet at the Oscars.

Moreover, the great thing about water is that it’s water. It tends to dilute things. Even if the COVID-19 coronavirus were to somehow make the epic journey of getting into your drinking water, it may not be at high enough concentrations to be of risk to you. This goes back to the whole beard thing. Every virus has a minimum infectious dose, the amount of virus that needs to be present to cause illness. Although it’s not completely clear yet what the minimum infectious dose for SARS-CoV-2 may be, dilution makes it less likely that what reaches you can surpass this threshold.

The same probably goes for water in pools and hot tubs. The CDC indicates that “there is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas, or water play areas.” For these things, not only would the water dilute the virus, but also disinfection with chlorine and bromine would likely inactivate the virus.

If you are actually thinking of swimming or soaking in a pool or tub that is not properly chlorinated or bromated, don’t. Just don’t. There’s a whole lot of other nasty, disease-causing microbes that could then be swimming or soaking along with you. The poop about many swimming pools and hot tubs is that’s what people may do in them. As I have described previously for Forbes, 24% of respondents to the 2019 Healthy Pools survey indicated that they would enter a swimming pool "within one hour of having diarrhea." Yes, diarrhea. Yes, within one hour of having it. And those are just the people who admitted to doing this. Still don’t want to social distance from others?

As for the ocean, it is pretty big. Then there’s the motion of the ocean, so to speak. Both of these aspects can dilute and separate viruses fairly quickly. The salt in the water may decrease the survival of the virus as well.

So, the key once again will be doing what you should be doing on land: practicing good social distancing, good hand hygiene, good disinfecting (of objects), and good avoid-touching-your-enormous face. And if you see any random objects such as a sign post, a statue, or a thong, don’t touch it if you don’t have to do so. You don’t know where it has been. Actually, in the case of a thong, you know exactly where it’s been. That’s the problem.

Also, wait until beaches, swimming pools, and other water areas are officially open before going to them. Yes, staying inside is not easy. Yes, there are only so many episodes of Breaking Bad that you can watch or mind games that you can play with your cat. But patience now will pay off later.

Once such places are officially open, it won’t be the time to release the kraken, so to speak. Sure you may have stored up all this energy, all those ingenious pick-up lines that probably won’t work anyway, and all the urges to do what you have done before while cooped up inside. But (there’s that word again), try to remember that the virus is still circulating. It will be some time before it is water under the bridge.

Neida Neto Vicente Ramos You can also follow this article :

Article Coronavirus in water environments: Occurrence, persistence a...

Dear Neida,

Based on the latest research results, social and physical distancing would get in the way of the Virus from spreading over.

Regards

No, the viral capsid is not too delicate as being emphasized

Thank you all, I am scared with people on the beach!

Where I live, the emergency law means that you will be arrested if you go to the beach. The government has not done that because they want people to be unhappy; it was done to avoid people being in close proximity. Whatever is the law where you live, unless your nation has a good covid19 testing regime, coupled with very low incidence numbers, you ought to avoid the beach, as you would avoid a shopping mall or a restaurant. Is a fun day at the beach worth the risk to you, or those to whom you might pass the virus along? My answer is a very clear "no".

No evidence till now.