PROTECTING AN ISLAND'S DRINKING WATER AND DESALINATION PLANT

1987 ◽  
Vol 1987 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-53
Author(s):  
David J. Kruth ◽  
Edward Overton ◽  
John Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Virgin Islands ◽  
Public Works ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
Alternative Source ◽  
Desalination Plant ◽  
Contaminated Drinking Water ◽  
Desalination Plants

ABSTRACT On February 6, 1986, the barge St. Thomas struck a submerged piling in Crown Bay, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. It is estimated that up to 70,000 gallons of an intermediate fuel oil were spilled from both this initial incident and a secondary spill which occurred the following day in Charlotte Amalie Harbor. The spilled oil threatened the island's primary source of drinking water: the desalination plant. St. Thomas' only alternative source of fresh water is rain water collected in cisterns. Due to its limited supply, potable drinking water is a precious commodity in the Caribbean Islands, and protection of the desalination plant became a crucial part of the spill response. When officials in charge of the desalination plant believed that oil had entered the plant's intakes, they shut down the desalination plant. Residents were warned by local officials not to drink the water to avoid serious health effects. The island's hospital feared their water supply had become contaminated and began using emergency bottled water. The Commissioner of Public Works reported that the island had less than four days of water remaining in storage. This paper discusses how the contaminated drinking water problem was resolved. Details are provided about the sampling methods and chemical analysis used in determining the water quality. Possible effects of oil on the two most common types of desalination plants are addressed. Monitoring and protection techniques are suggested for these desalination plants. Finally, a checklist is provided for oil spills which threaten desalination plants.

A Regional Comparative Study on Arsenic Contaminated Drinking Water in Bangladesh

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 763-777
Author(s):  
Sho SHIBATA ◽  
Yoshimi HAGIHARA ◽  
Kiyoko HAGIHARA ◽  
Akira SAKAI
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Contaminated Drinking Water

Viruses and Water: Problems, Detection, and Control

1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 127-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Dizer ◽  
J. Dürkop ◽  
A. Grohmann ◽  
H. Kopecka ◽  
J. M. López-Pila
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Membrane Filtration ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Health Hazard ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Secondary Effluent ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Water Problems

Secondary effluent of wastewater treatment plants contains a high number of viruses and other pathogens, which pose a health risk to the population, (especially when receiv ng waters are used for bathing and swimming, or for growing shellfish. In areas with a high density of population, where drinking water supply is dependent on surface waters and contaminated rivers are the primary source of drinking water, failure of the filtration or of the disinfection step, or of any other “barriers” supposed to warrant safe potable water, will increase the risk of health hazard for the consumer. We have compared the efficiency of viral elimination in secondary effluent by flocculation, uv rradiation and membrane filtration taking naturally occurring, or additionally seeded f2 phages, as indicator for viruses. Flocculation decreased the number of phages present in secondary effluent by more than two logs. If combined with uv irradiation, the elimination reached five additional logs. Membrane filtration eliminated essentially all naturally occurring phages. Improvement of the quality of surface waters calls for a refinement of detection methods for viruses. We have found that the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) might be used for detecting viruses in surface waters.

MOFs for the treatment of arsenic, fluoride and iron contaminated drinking water: A review

Chemosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 251 ◽  
pp. 126388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dibyajyoti Haldar ◽  
Prangan Duarah ◽  
Mihir Kumar Purkait
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Contaminated Drinking Water

scholarly journals Characterization of microbial response to petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in a lacustrine ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilio D’Ugo ◽  
Milena Bruno ◽  
Arghya Mukherjee ◽  
Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay ◽  
Roberto Giuseppetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Petroleum Hydrocarbon ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Hydrocarbon Contamination ◽  
Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contamination ◽  
Microbial Response ◽  
Pollution Event ◽  
Hydrocarbonoclastic Potential

AbstractMicrobiomes of freshwater basins intended for human use remain poorly studied, with very little known about the microbial response to in situ oil spills. Lake Pertusillo is an artificial freshwater reservoir in Basilicata, Italy, and serves as the primary source of drinking water for more than one and a half million people in the region. Notably, it is located in close proximity to one of the largest oil extraction plants in Europe. The lake suffered a major oil spill in 2017, where approximately 400 tons of crude oil spilled into the lake; importantly, the pollution event provided a rare opportunity to study how the lacustrine microbiome responds to petroleum hydrocarbon contamination. Water samples were collected from Lake Pertusillo 10 months prior to and 3 months after the accident. The presence of hydrocarbons was verified and the taxonomic and functional aspects of the lake microbiome were assessed. The analysis revealed specialized successional patterns of lake microbial communities that were potentially capable of degrading complex, recalcitrant hydrocarbons, including aromatic, chloroaromatic, nitroaromatic, and sulfur containing aromatic hydrocarbons. Our findings indicated that changes in the freshwater microbial community were associated with the oil pollution event, where microbial patterns identified in the lacustrine microbiome 3 months after the oil spill were representative of its hydrocarbonoclastic potential and may serve as effective proxies for lacustrine oil pollution.

Hygienic Aspects of the Use of Desalinated Sea Water for Drinking and Household Purposes: A Literature Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 26-32
Author(s):  
OO Sinitsyna ◽  
VV Turbinsky ◽  
TM Ryashentseva ◽  
EP Lavrik
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Additional Treatment ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Seawater Desalination ◽  
Preliminary Preparation ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Desalination Plants

Background. Uneven distribution of fresh water sources on the land surface encourages a search for effective techniques of potable water preparation by desalination of seawater. Hygienic issues of such desalination methods as distillation, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, and ion exchange have been investigated by now and appropriate limitations, requirements, and additional measures to ensure safety of desalinated drinking water have been established. Objective. To summarize and systematize the results of studying characteristics of various methods of seawater desalination for its further use for drinking and household purposes. Materials and methods. We conducted a systematic review of studies published in Russian and in English, found in the PubMed and Web of Science databases, and selected 40 literary sources containing an empirical assessment of effectiveness of seawater desalination and preparation of drinking water. We also scrutinized regulatory documents and guidelines of domestic sanitary legislation. The research results were systematized by the main desalination methods. Results and discussion. We established that the use of seawater for the preparation of fresh water for drinking and household purposes is becoming increasingly widespread around the world. Drinking water obtained from seawater, in all cases, requires additional treatment and measures to optimize its mineral composition and protect against microorganisms. Conclusion. The main challenges of ensuring sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing of the population when using desalinated seawater for drinking and household purposes include selection of a source, arrangement of sites of water intake properly protected from natural and man-made pollution, substantiation of techniques and modes of preliminary preparation of source seawater adequate to its composition, basic desalination, ensuring safety of products of destruction and migration of toxic substances from reagents and materials of desalination plants, additional conditioning with the necessary elements and disinfection of the prepared water, as well as environmental protection from desalination waste.

A fatal waterborne disease epidemic in Walkerton, Ontario: comparison with other waterborne outbreaks in the developed world

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Hrudey ◽  
P. Payment ◽  
P.M. Huck ◽  
R.W. Gillham ◽  
E.J. Hrudey
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Reference Source ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
Contaminated Drinking Water ◽  
The Government ◽  
Safety Of Drinking Water ◽  
Developed World

An estimated 2,300 people became seriously ill and seven died from exposure to microbially contaminated drinking water in the town of Walkerton, Ontario, Canada in May 2000. The severity of this drinking water disaster resulted in the Government of Ontario calling a public inquiry by Mr. Justice Dennis O’Connor to address the cause of the outbreak, the role (if any) of government policies in contributing to this outbreak and, ultimately, the implications of this experience on the safety of drinking water across the Province of Ontario. The circumstances surrounding the Walkerton tragedy are an important reference source for those concerned with providing safe drinking water. Although some circumstances are obviously specific to this epidemic, others are uncomfortably reminiscent of waterborne outbreaks that have occurred elsewhere. These recurring themes suggested the need for attention to broad issues of drinking water security and they present the challenge for how drinking water safety can be managed to prevent such tragedies in the future.

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