Engineering for Public Health: Building Water Essentials

Public Health

Description:

Building water systems are sitting at low to no occupancy across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stagnant water in them can pose significant human health risks due to chemical and microorganism accumulation and exposure. Health professionals will be introduced to engineering and science principles underlying building water systems, current issues associated with the pandemic, and strategies for investigating and responding to issues.

The learning objectives are to:
(1) Describe the chemical and microbiological contaminants common to building water systems for stagnant and flowing water,
(2) Explain the factors that control contaminant accumulation in building water systems,
(3) Recognize water testing methods and limitations,
(4) Identify remediation practices for reducing contaminated water from the systems,
(5) Recognize how to create and test building water system flushing plans,
(6) Develop strategies to avoid and remediate water quality problems, using real-building examples, as-built drawings, and other resources, AND
(7) Recognize where to find additional resources.

Target audience: Public health department employees, any role; Public health professionals.

Instructional Time: Eight 1-hr long modules. All modules can be completed on your own timeline. A few optional just-in-time live question and answer sessions may be offered on select topics by the instructors. Additional instructor time is available for the participants.