Water Quality Methods

And

Water Quality Laboratories

Public Health and Water Microbiology

Providing Safe Water Is The Single Most Effective Tool for

Improving Public Health

Contaminated Water as a Health Problem

• How many people die from waterborne disease per day globally– 25,000 per day (WHO statistic)– 9,000,000 per year

Contaminated Water as a Health Problem

• Pierre Payment - American Journal of Public Health– 35% of vomiting and Diarrhea illness come

from drinking contaminated water– 166,000 hospitalizations, 1000 deaths

• In the US the cost is $9.5 Billion dollars

Water Sources Associated with Outbreaks

Spring5.9%

Well & Surface11.8%

Surface11.8%

Wells70.6%

Brief History of Waterborne Disease

• 350 B.C. Hippocrates recommended filtering and boiling water so as not to poison the palate

• 1855 John Snow linked Cholera infection to a community well

• 1887 sand filtration equipment manufacturers claimed Cholera and Typhoid fever eliminated by water filtration

Brief History of Waterborne Disease

• Until 1920 dysentery from Typhoid fever and Cholera was the leading cause of death in the U.S.

• Chlorination of Jersey City water supply in 1908 wiped out Typhoid and Cholera

Bacterial Agents Of Waterborne Disease

• Salmonella– typhi (Typhoid fever)– Salmonellosis

• Vibrio cholerae

• Helicobacter pylori

• Campylobacter

• E. coli O157

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Parasitic Agents Of Waterborne Disease

• Examples– Cryptosporidia– Giardia– Microsporidia– Entamoeba histolytica– Cyclospora– Naegleria fowleri– Toxoplasma gondii

Viral Agents Of Waterborne Disease

VIRUS SOURCE SYMPTOMS

Caliciviruses Feces gastroenteritis, nausea, (Norwalk) vomiting

Enteroviruses Feces febrile illness, diarrhea

Hepatitis A/E Feces fever, malaise, jaundice, nausea

Rotaviruses Feces vomiting and diarrhea in children

Providing Safe Drinking Water Is The Single Most Effective Way

To Improve Public Health

• LABORATORIES ARE CRUCIAL TO THIS EFFORT

Drinking Water Methods for Microbiological Contaminants

EPA Ground water and Drinking Water Analytical Methods