By Keith C. Milne
The global pandemic created by the COVID-19 virus is practically the only thing being discussed or talked about on the news nearly 24 hours/day. Aside from the nearly constant news, we have also become witness to many “feel good” or “heartwarming” stories often involving a grand show of appreciation for “Front-line Workers,” which, we have all been neatly identified for us as law enforcement personnel, fire fighters, emergency medical technicians, and all healthcare workers. Occasionally, truck drivers are included, and even retail workers. Even less often, in an attempt to not forget anyone who may have already been forgotten, a last minute thank you will be aimed at “all essential workers.”
Receiving positive reinforcement and recognition for having to endure personal hardship or face a hazard to one’s own personal health or safety, is definitely a positive shot in the arm of those who are being recognized. For some, this recognition has also been extended to include lots of overtime, or special “hazardous duty pay,” along with free meals and even car washes in an attempt to compensate these people for going to work with increased risk of contracting this deadly virus. However, this isn’t the case for all or even many who are considered to be “essential workers.”
Whether we are in the midst of a global pandemic or there are no emergency or public health issues, there are more than a few occupations that are rarely, if ever thought about, and I happen to work in one of the most important of all: the Clean Water Industry. Never heard of it? Well, if you receive your water from a municipality, then I’m certain that your household would demand clean water if the supply were suddenly threatened. Likewise if your toilet backed up on you at 2 a.m.!
Yes, I’m talking about the forgotten or rarely thought about industry (and it’s workers) that used to be called the sewer, or the wastewater industry. It’s where the stuff goes when you flush the toilet. Yeah, that place!
Clean Water Professionals are TRULY FRONT-LINE WHEN IT COMES TO EXPOSURE POTENTIAL. We have to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) daily, because we must collect samples out in the field from various processes inherent in treatment, either a grab sample from a process tank, or from an auto-sampler that has taken many discreet samples over time representing a composite sample. Despite wearing PPE and adhering to all laboratory safety precautions, the bottom line is: we are handling and analyzing (with gloved hands) other peoples wastes! Specifically, their urine; their feces; their vomit; their blood; their saliva; and other bodily fluids. Waste from funeral homes and hospitals go right into the collection system which feeds into our plant, along with a hefty amount of solid waste that gets flushed along with the biological waste. Mixers on our tanks push large amounts of this “inflow” up into the air to add oxygen to it, and the mist created travels far and wide in even the slightest breeze. How do you think we feel coming to work everyday on nearly deserted streets and highways, early in the morning, it can seem pretty creepy especially on a dark gray day, especially with so little known about how this new virus works, while the numbers of infections and deaths are going up daily? It can add an extra little knot in your stomach when you learn that a six foot distance may no longer be a safe distance social distance, that it might be more like thirteen feet in order to be safe from being infected by the viral mist, and then feel mist from the mechanical mixer in the tank next to you hit you in the face on your way to collect another sample.
It is ironic to me that the clean water industry, an industry rarely thought about, employing invisible, but extremely talented workers who, along with water workers, are responsible for the largest decrease in epidemics, pandemics, and a long list of nasty diseases that ended the lives of many at very young ages!
Without clean water plants, (formerly referred to as wastewater treatment plants or sewer plants around the world), we would all be dying much sooner and our life expectancy would be half what it is today ON AVERAGE. The three largest contributors to better health and less mortality from disease BY FAR, has been disinfection of our drinking water with chlorine, wastewater treatment, and municipal garbage collection. These are the big three that reduced death and disease tremendously, and have all played a huge role in allowing people to live to an advanced age as in recent decades. It was discovered that much disease arose out of the filth that often accompanied the slums of urban centers, which is interesting in light of the filthy conditions and squalor in the WuHan China animal marketplace where, supposedly, the corona virus made the infectious leap from animal to human.
According to Wikipedia, the impact of water disinfection alone was enormous:
“The occurrence of diseases such as cholera and typhoid dropped dramatically. In 1900, the occurrence of typhoid fever in the United States was approximately 100 cases per 100,000 people. By 1920, it had decreased to 33.8 cases per 100,000 people. In 2006, it had decreased to 0.1 cases per 100,000 people (only 353 cases) with approximately 75% occurring among international travelers. Typhoid fever decreased rapidly in cities from Baltimore to Chicago as water disinfection and treatment was instituted. This decrease in illness is credited to the implementation of drinking water disinfection and treatment, improving the quality of source water, and improvements in sanitation and hygiene. It is because of these successes that we can celebrate over a century of public drinking water disinfection and treatment – one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.”
Read more at: CDC. A Century of U.S. Water Chlorination and Treatment: One of the Ten Greatest Public Health Achievements of the 20th Century. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999;48(29):621-9.
I suppose that I’m not too surprised that no one thinks about wastewater treatment unless they take a more advanced ecology or biology class, or they dig into issues around global warming, algae blooms that are dangerous to life, or their sewer system backs up into their basement while they’re having dinner. After all, who wants to think about human waste. Right?
So, the next time you watch another one of those “our front-line heroes” ads, I hope you will remember that you’re only celebrating or thanking a small slice of the most obvious occupations that may be put into harm’s way by COVID-19 or any other life threatening disease. There are many more occupations in the world that are just as important in the grand scheme of saving lives, that also involve tasks being performed with at least as much exposure risk as an emergency room physician, but with no free lunches or car washes or hazardous duty pay. This situation is very similar to the quarterback getting all of the accolades for winning the big game, when it took the entire team to get the job done!
So, to ALL the workers of the world who have had to go to work while the majority have been able to stay home and watch Netflix or do their jobs in their pajamas while sipping hot cocoa, yet have received ZERO recognition or ZERO extra pay for doing the right thing, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ALL THAT YOU DO TO MAKE OUR WORLD A BETTER AND SAFER PLACE TO LIVE AND FOR ENSURING THAT WE HAVE HAD WHAT WE NEEDED DURING THIS TERRIBLE TIME PERIOD. (With a special shout out to all the Solid Waste workers too!)
Finally, to all of the Clean Water Professionals in the world who tirelessly work to keep our environment clean and safe for our continued longevity, THANK YOU ALL FOR RISKING YOUR LIVES BY COMING TO WORK DURING THIS COVID-19 PANDEMIC TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE ALL ABLE TO ENJOY OUR WATERWAYS, DRINK CLEAN WATER, AND DISPOSE OF OUR HUMAN WASTE IN WAYS THAT ARE SAFE AND MAKE OUR WORLD A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN!