The workshop on 23 September was focused on the impact of disasters on water and health. Impressive presentations on the earthquakes in Christchurch, Haiti and Spain and the tsunami in Japan set the scene for an interactive working session on how the HRWM can assist in these situations. Direct disaster relief is the role of specialized and local organizations. However HRWM can help these organizations by providing expert, science based knowledge on what approaches can be best used to reduce water related health risks. Current knowledge about the effect of interventions is based on estimates and circumstantial evidence. By closer involvement with disaster relief, HRWM can help to improve knowledge by advising on monitoring of water quality and illness in these situations. They may provide services to do more extensive analysis of water samples in these conditions where E. coli measurements seem to have little relevance for the actual health risk. This can be used to improve the science based decisions on how to reduce water related health risks. The workshop signaled the end of this very interesting week where knowledge was shared, new ideas were born and bonds between the participants were strengthened.

Patrick Smeets,PhD
Scientific Researcher

20-22 September 2011. A great number of presentations during the IWA HRWM conference, dealt with the most relevant issues in microbiology, water and health.
 
E.coli
Limitations of E. coli as the only indicator organism for fecal contamination are becoming more clear as studies fail to find good relations between the presence of E. coli and pathogenic micro-organisms. On the one hand pathogens are often detected in absence of E. coli. On the other hand E. coli can be found in great numbers where pathogens are absent. This is especially the case in warm climates where E. coli may grow in the environment and are released during storm water or similar events. However, no ideal replacement for E. coli has been found.
 
Antibiotic resistant pathogens
The second hot topic was antibiotic resistant pathogens that are increasingly found in the environment. These are both related to sewage and agriculture. Various studies looked into the impact of climate change on health risks. Studies show both positive and negative effects of climate change as micro-organisms die-off more quickly at higher temperatures, but an increase of heavy rain events will increase the number of pathogens released into the environment.
 
Finally several studies and comments emphasized the importance of epidemiological studies to link water quality parameters to actual health impact. Many improved water supplies don’t lead to the expected reduction of illness, which is the goal of the MDG’s. Many solutions fail to address the issues of personal behavior, social, economic, governance and ownership issues. These now seem just as important as the technological aspects of a water supply system.
 
Patrick Smeets, PhD
Scientific Researcher

Monday 19 September 2011 the HRWM conference kicked off by an energetic Maori welcome. Apart from the tribal welcome, Maori representatives also gave their view of water, and how it is embedded in their own identity. They stressed the need for emotional en spiritual healthy water. The first technical sessions on microbial water risks during emergencies and under climate change stress were led by dr. Gertjan Medema. First hand experiences from the earthquake in Christchurch and the cholera epidemic were shared. How do you handle a 1 m thick layer of sewage contaminated sludge spread out over a city where all drainage has been blocked? How can you treat hospital wastewater during a cholera epidemic in an emergency situation to prevent spreading of the disease?

 

Several speakers highlighted that on the long term climate change can increase microbial risks. Paul Hunter showed how more heavy rainfall events can lead to outbreaks especially at small supplies. Jack Schijven quantified the combined effects of changing precipitation patterns and increase of temperature on the fate and transport of pathogens in river water. The effect on persistent organisms like norovirus or Cryptosporidium differs from that on vulnerable organisms like Campylobacter. The afternoon session on catchment protection generally highlighted the shortcomings of indicator organism monitoring and presented several alternatives to characterize risks in the catchment. Bacteriodes typing is increasingly used to differentiate between human and animal contamination in the catchment but the search for the ideal indicator parameter continues.

 

Patrick Smeets, PhD
Scientific researcher