Comparing health outcomes and point-of-use water quality in two rural indigenous communities of Baja California, Mexico before and after receiving new potable water infrastructure

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 672-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Stigler-Granados ◽  
Penelope J. E. Quintana ◽  
Richard Gersberg ◽  
María Luisa Zúñiga ◽  
Thomas Novotny
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Baja California ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Gastrointestinal Illness ◽  
Source Water ◽  
Water Infrastructure ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Before And After

One of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals is to reduce the global proportion of people who do not have access to safe drinking water. In the past, the typical strategy to reach this goal has been the use of investment-intensive centralized infrastructure development for water supplies. However, there is increasing evidence suggesting that improving water quality at the source does not guarantee safe water at point-of-use. This study examined water quality, waterborne disease incidence and water system use over time in two small rural indigenous communities of Baja California, Mexico, before and after drinking-water infrastructure improvements. Community Promotoras collected data on the incidence of gastrointestinal illness through face-to-face surveys. Concurrently, water samples from the old and new water sources and household water storage containers were analyzed for fecal coliforms. Although source water quality was significantly improved in both communities (p < 0.05), neither community had a significant decrease in the level of contaminated drinking water sampled at the household level. No significant decrease in gastrointestinal illness was found after the improvements to the source water supply. These results indicate that point-of-use contamination and acceptance of the new sources may be a critical point for intervention when attempting to assure access to safe water, especially in rural communities.

scholarly journals Source Water Characteristics and Building-specific Factors Influence Corrosion and Point of Use Water Quality in a Decentralized Arctic Drinking Water System

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 2192-2201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Gora ◽  
Benjamin F. Trueman ◽  
Tim Anaviapik-Soucie ◽  
Megan K. Gavin ◽  
C. Carolina Ontiveros ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water System ◽  
Source Water ◽  
Water Characteristics ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Drinking Water System ◽  
Specific Factors

scholarly journals Microbial Community Structure and Diversity in Drinking Water Supply, Distribution Systems as well as Household Point of use Site in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bayable Atanfu ◽  
Adey Desta ◽  
Fassil Assefa
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Community Structure ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Drinking Water Quality ◽  
Source Water ◽  
Intermittent Water Supply ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Long Time

Abstract Understanding ecology of microbiomes in drinking water distribution systems is the most important notion in delivering safe drinking water. Despite cultivation-based methods routinely employed in monitoring drinking water quality, cultivation of specific indicator organisms alone is not always guarantee for assuring safe drinking water delivery. The presence of complex microbiomes in drinking water distribution systems affects treatment effectiveness leading to poor quality water which as a result affects health of human and animals. Drinking water treatment and distribution systems harbor various microbiota despite efforts made in improving water infrastructures and several waterborne diseases become serious problems in the water industry, specially, in developing Countries. Intermittent water supply, long-time of water storage, low water pressure in distribution systems, storage tankers and pipes as well as contaminated source water are among many of the factors responsible for low drinking water quality which in turn affecting health of people. The aim of this study was to explore microbial diversity and structure in water samples collected from source water, treated water, reservoirs, and several household points of use locations (taps). High throughput Illumina sequencing technology was employed by targeting V4 region of 16S rRNA following Illumina protocol to analyze the community structure of bacteria. The core dominating taxa were Proteobacteria followed by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria. Gamma proteobacteria were dominant among other Proteobacterial classes across all sampling points. Opportunistic bacterial genera such as Pseudomonas, Legionella, Klebsiella, Escherichia, Actinobacteria, as well as eukaryotic microbes like Cryptosporidium, Hartmanella, Acanthamoeba, Aspergillus, and Candida were also the abundant taxa found along the distribution systems. The shift in microbial community structure from source to point of use locations were influenced by factors such as residual free chlorine, intermittent water supply and long-time storage at the household. The shift in microbial community structure from source to point of use locations were influenced by factors such as residual free chlorine, intermittent water supply and long-time storage at the household. The complex microbiota which was present in different sample sites receiving treated water from the two treatment plants (Legedadi and Gefersa) starting from source water to household point of consumption across the distribution systems in Addis Ababa brings drinking water quality problem which further causes significant health problems to both human and animal health. Treatment ineffectiveness, disinfection inefficiency, poor maintenance actions, leakage of sewage and other domestic wastes are few among many other factors responsible for degraded drinking water quality in this study putting health at high risk which, this, leads to morbidity and mortality. Findings of this research provide important and bassline information to understand the microbial profiles of drinking water along source water and distribution systems.

scholarly journals Faecal contamination of drinking water during collection and household storage: the need to extend protection to the point of use

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas F. Clasen ◽  
Andrew Bastable
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Arithmetic Mean ◽  
Faecal Contamination ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Female Head ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Thermotolerant Coliforms ◽  
And Storage

Paired water samples were collected and analysed for thermotolerant coliforms (TTC) from 20 sources (17 developed or rehabilitated by Oxfam and 3 others) and from the stored household water supplies of 100 households (5 from each source) in 13 towns and villages in the Kailahun District of Sierra Leone. In addition, the female head of the 85 households drawing water from Oxfam improved sources was interviewed and information recorded on demographics, hygiene instruction and practices, sanitation facilities and water collection and storage practices. At the non-improved sources, the arithmetic mean TTC load was 407/100 ml at the point of distribution, rising to a mean count of 882/100 ml at the household level. Water from the improved sources met WHO guidelines, with no faecal contamination. At the household level, however, even this safe water was subject to frequent and extensive faecal contamination; 92.9% of stored household samples contained some level of TTC, 76.5% contained more than the 10 TTC per 100 ml threshold set by the Sphere Project for emergency conditions. The arithmetic mean TTC count for all samples from the sampled households was 244 TTC per 100 ml (geometric mean was 77). These results are consistent with other studies that demonstrate substantial levels of faecal contamination of even safe water during collection, storage and access in the home. They point to the need to extend drinking water quality beyond the point of distribution to the point of consumption. The options for such extended protection, including improved collection and storage methods and household-based water treatment, are discussed.

scholarly journals Calculating Required Purification Effort to Turn Source Water into Drinking Water Using an Adapted CCME Water Quality Index

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre van den Doel ◽  
Geert H van Kollenburg ◽  
Thomas D.N. van Remmen ◽  
Joanne A de Jonge ◽  
Gerard J Stroomberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Quality Index ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Source Water

Predicting Source Water Quality Following Wildfires Using Hydrologic Modeling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Wampler ◽  
Kevin D. Bladon ◽  
Monireh Faramarzi
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Source Water ◽  
Forested Watersheds ◽  
Field Samples ◽  
The World

<p>Forested watersheds are critical sources of the majority of the world’s drinking water. Almost one-third of the world’s largest cities and two-thirds of cities in the United States (US) rely on forested watersheds for their water supply. These forested regions are vulnerable to the increasing incidence of large and severe wildfires due to increases in regional temperatures and greater accumulation of fuels. When wildfires occur, increases in suspended sediment and organic carbon can negatively affect aquatic ecosystem health and create many costly challenges to the drinking water treatment process. These effects are often largest in the first year following a wildfire. While past research has shown the likelihood of source water impacts from wildfire, the magnitude of effects remains uncertain in most regions. In our study, we will quantify the projected short-term effects of three large (>70,000 ha) wildfires on key water quality parameters (sediment and organic carbon) in two important forested source watersheds in the Cascade Range of Oregon, US. We calibrated and validated a modified Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate streamflow, sediment loads and transport, as well as in-stream organic carbon processes for a historical period prior to wildfire. The calibrated model parameters were then modified based on literature values and burn severity maps to represent post-fire conditions of the three large wildfires. The parameter adjustments for simulating wildfire will be validated with post-fire water quality field samples from the wildfires. We will present estimations of future water quality impacts in the burned watersheds under different precipitation conditions at a daily scale for the first year following the wildfires, which will provide testable hypotheses. Additionally, we will determine catchment characteristics most critical in determining the post-fire water quality response. This work will help predict the magnitude of effects from these historic wildfires, which can inform forest and drinking water management decision making.</p>

Investigation of opportunistic pathogens in municipal drinking water under different supply and treatment regimes

2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pryor ◽  
S. Springthorpe ◽  
S. Riffard ◽  
T. Brooks ◽  
Y. Huo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Microbiological Quality ◽  
Opportunistic Pathogens ◽  
Treatment Regimes ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Deep Wells ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Legionella Species ◽  
Biofilm Bacteria

Changing regulations to lower disinfectant byproducts in drinking water is forcing utilities to switch disinfection from chlorine to monochloramine. It is generally unknown whether this will impact positively or negatively on the microbiological quality of drinking water. A utility in Florida, using water with relatively high organic carbon levels from deep wells in several wellfields, made the decision to change its disinfection regime from chlorine to chloramine in order to meet the new regulations. To assess the impacts of such a change on the microbiology of its water supplies, it undertook a number of studies before and after the change. In particular, the presence of the opportunistic pathogens Legionella and Mycobacterium, and also the composition of drinking-water biofilms, were examined. A preliminary synthesis and summary of these results are presented here. Legionella species were widely distributed in source waters and in the distribution system when chlorine was the disinfectant. In some samples they seemed to be among the dominant biofilm bacteria. Following the change to monochloramine, legionellae were not detected in the distribution system during several months of survey; however, they remained detectable at point of use, although with less species diversity. A variety of mycobacteria (21 types) were widely distributed in the distribution system when chlorine was the disinfectant, but these seemed to increase in dominance after chloramination was instituted. At point of use, only four species of mycobacteria were detected. Other changes occurring with chloramination included (a) an altered biofilm composition, (b) increased numbers of total coliforms and heterotrophs and (c) nitrification of water storage tanks. The results suggested that consideration should be given to the microbiological effects of changing disinfection regimes in drinking-water and distribution system biofilms.

Off-flavor as the consumer's measure of drinking water safety

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Off Flavors ◽  
Health Related

If consumers detect an off-flavor in their drinking water, they are likely to believe that it probably is not safe. Water utilities will be defeating their best efforts to provide safe drinking water if they only meet health-related regulations and do not provide water that is free of off-flavor problems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current U.S. regulatory environment and discuss how these regulations can adversely impact the control of off-flavors in drinking water. Utilities should adopt a water quality goal that allows them to not only meet the minimums of the regulations, but also meet the customer's highest standards - water that is free of off-flavors.

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