The fight against SARS: a backfilling connection for the prevention of drying out of floor drains' U-traps

摘要

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was first reported in China in November 2002 and had spread to Hong Kong by late February 2003. Initially hospitals were the main sites of the infection which was thought to be due to an airborne virus. However the spread of the virus to large residential tower blocks led authorities to suspect that the evaporation of toilet floor drain U-traps may be a possible way of spreading the virus. The paper reports a full scale rig testing of methods to prevent the evaporation of the U-trap water seals and concludes with recommendations for further research.