How come the water is not infected?

[nikvoodoo]

i think ur forgetting about this. angel and riley came into contact with zombie blood/saliva in the corpse hill, and they didnt turn, so the pathogen will die out in a few days without its host, or so the logic goes, OR ITS A PLOT HOLE!

Not forgetting that at all. It could be that pile of flesh was that of human remains. The zombies rip the flesh off the pile. They don't stick their faces in the food pile and lick it so they can claim an arm or a leg they want to eat later on

If that pile was that of human remains and not that of zombies, it would be perfectly reasonable to think that those dead bodies weren't infected. Have we seen anyone turn from simply a scratch in this series yet? I know in zombie lore, yes, scratches are as bad as bites. But if the pathogen is transmitted by blood/saliva only, scratches would be a way in for the pathogen, but not directly result in an infection.