Microbial water quality risks to public health: potable water assessment for Nullah Lei community Khayabane Sir Syed (P-0782) (MFN 3595)

Abstract

Public health hazards are emerging in countries like Pakistan, mainly due to the consumption of microbial water contamination, wholly responsible for waterborne disease outbreaks. This poses significant health risks to its consumers. The study in a small community of Khayaban-e- Sir Syed near Nullah Lei was undertaken with the aim to assess microbial drinking water quality and to find health risks due to certain risk factors in the poor community of Rawalpindi, residing near the Nullah lei waste carrier stream. The findings of the study showed that 80% of the samples confirmed very high health risks to the inhabitants according to WHO risk standards for potable water assessment and are unfit for human consumption and of these 40% had high colony count. Samples were also taken from the government water supply sources installed in the community like tube wells and filtration plant which showed 100% purity and water fit for drinking purposes according to WHO drinking water standards. Although the tube wells and filtration plant have clean water for the consumers but the consumers chose to use the tap water and when the water from the clean water sources reach the community taps the outcomes are severe bacteriological contaminations. During preliminary baseline study possible risk factors for microbial contamination including pipe leakages, domestic waste carrier stream and openly dumped solid were identified to be related to the microbial contamination. The results of disease surveillance conducted in the study area identified major waterborne diseases in the area including 41 % patients with in the age group of less than 5 years and about 38% adults were found to be suffering from diarrhoea, dysentery and enteric typhoid and other waterborne diseases. The pathological investigation for last three years discovered significant waterborne pathogens Vibrio cholerae, shigella, salmonella, isolated in the stole samples of 64 infected patients coming from the nearby lei communities. The human health risk assessment when carried out in the area in cooperating information from baseline study, water quality assessment, disease surveillance and pathological investigation showed high level of health risk in the area. If care would not be taken by the inhabitants or water supply agencies to protect the potable water against the major risk factors, it is likely that these inhabitants will suffer high health risks and more deaths due to waterborne diseases outbreaks in the area. The community health risk assessment strictly calls for risk management and risk communication as an ultimate solution to minimize the water and health related problems in the area.