http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/comment/436983#comment-436983
"... Before people tell me I don't know how medical waste is treated, two points. Bruce Ribner, Infectious disease director at Emory stated directly in one of his earlier communications that body waste was flushed into the septic system. He further indicated there was "little risk" to the public. Secondly, while not an expert, I have managed housekeeping departments as part of my duties in two hospital systems and have a basic knowledge of the rules and regulations governing treatment of biohazardous waste.There is a lot of pipe between the origin of the waste and the treatment plant. Raw waste leaks can and do occur, even within aging hospital buildings. I think we are being cavalier about the potential risks when we assume a host does not exist here. Do I think it will happen? No. Could it? I don't think we know enough to rule it out. Full speed ahead, and damn the torpedoes..."
There will be more ordinary American hospitals treating Ebola patients soon, and Ebola will contaminate unexpected portions of some of those due to leaky sewage pipes. I.e., working in, or going to, American hospitals treating Ebola patients will infect at least some new Ebola victims.
I.e., tracking of contacts of Ebola victims will at some point hit rapidly diminishing returns as a means of containing Ebola outbreaks in the United States.
White House Ebola Press Conf rescheduled from now one hour later, at 430 PM ET today.
All plumbing systems must be filtered or isolated as they leave or enter a BSL-4 space. This includes HEPA filters on plumbing vents. All liquid wastes go to the kill tanks. Solid waste goes to sterilizers or incinerators.
Liquid-effluent-treatment system
A kill tank using steam sterilizes all liquid waste before it leaves a BSL-4 building. Usually, doubly redundant tanks are used so that there is 100-percent backup. Liquid wastes are sterilized and pH-balanced before they are released to sanitary sewers. Because kill tanks are not located within BSL-4 facilities, pipes leading to kill tanks are usually double-walled to contain leaks.
From Biosafety Level 4 Labs Up Close and Personal
Sounds like the JV team is playing the bench warmers again...
That is interesting because in the NBC special “Saving Dr. Brantly”, Dr. Ribner said that they did not flush the waste of the Ebola patients at Emory because the sewage treatment plant wouldn’t be very happy with them. Instead, they put a sterilizing solution in the toilet, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and then they could “safely flush it down”.
He says it in Part 5.
http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/saving-dr-brantly/saving-dr-brantly-part-5-n197261