Waterborne Diseases in Developing Countries and Effective Water Treatment Policies - Term Paper Example

Waterborne Diseases in Developing Countries and Effective Water Treatment Policies I. Introduction Microorganisms are present everywhere in our environment that includes air, soil, water and food. The issue of waterborne disease is crucial because as per the World Health Organization more people die of waterborne disease than of AIDS or cancer. To be precise “Diarrhoeal disease kills an estimated 1.8 million people each year, and accounts for 17% of deaths of children under 5 years of age in developing countries (WHO, 2014). Usually, waterborne diseases occur due to ingestion of contaminated water but at times, it may also occur through some other water related activities such as swimming, or bathing. Waterborne disease is a major issue in the developing countries. Large sections of population have no access to safe drinking water. Drinking Water is often contaminated with not only bacteria but other harmful substances and heavy metals such as chrome, lead, mercury, fluoride. The paper aims to explore how developing countries such as India and Kenya are coping with waterborne diseases and what effective water treatment policies have they formulated to provide safe water to their citizens including preventive strategies and other relevant issues that are of critical importance. I.1 Background As per WHO, 94% of disease burden (WHO, 2014) can be attributed to the unsafe drinking water, poor hygiene and lack of sanitation. Four million infants and child deaths every year are due to water-borne diseases in developing countries. It is estimated that around 226 million people do not have access to safe water and at least 640 million people do not have proper sanitation facilities in India. Out of the 37 diseases as major causes of death, 21 diseases are associated with unsafe water and inadequate sanitation (Ramchandraiah). In one of the surveys conducted by the researchers of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya, it was revealed that Typhoid was the most commonly reported water-borne disease. The researchers selected 100 households on a random basis within four divisions of Masaba North District in Kenya. Surprisingly, Only 17% of the treated water samples met the WHO/KEBS recommended standard of 0 CFU/100ml for drinking water. The reasons were many and varied ranging from inadequate treatment, poor storage facilities, or storing the water for long periods. In the last one year, 20 households out of 100 reported that at least one member of their family suffered from a water-borne disease (Nyagwencha et al. (n.d)). As per the news report published in the Guardian in September 2010, poor sanitation, lack of water and improper waste disposal methods in Kenya carry a huge risk of water-borne diseases. Only 38.4% of the urban and 13.4% of rural population have access to piped waters. Typhoid, cholera and diarrhea are quite common in the degraded slum conditions (The Guardian, 2010). I.2 Concise Statement of the Problem From the above examples, it is quite clear that water-borne diseases pose major threat to life in developing countries. Since a significant proportion of diseases occur due to water, it becomes utmost necessary that ‘right to safe water’ must be made a fundamental right in each of the country under discussion. Unfortunately, most establishments in developing countries have not given ‘right to safe water’ a topmost priority over other developmental work. II Issues and Relevance to Environmental Health Numerous issues crop up over the high incidents of water-borne diseases in India and Kenya and it is important to learn why they pose serious environmental health hazards in both the countries. a. In most developing countries including India and Kenya, water supply systems, its storage and installation of water treatment or purification systems have been considered a privilege of affluent class. Urban poor and rural class have been left to suffer from inadequacies. b. India and Kenya being tropical countries, most water-borne infections occur during summer or rainy season due to heavy flooding across the length and breadth of countries. This is the period when fresh water supplies often mix up with sewerage system and contaminate the potable water. c. When 594 million people defecate in open (UNICEF, 2014) in India then there is a huge risk of contamination of water leading to diarrhea in children. Thus, inadequate sanitation facility is a big cause of water contamination leading to water-borne diseases. d. Rivers in India and Kenya are highly polluted because irresponsible industries discharge their untreated wastes that contaminate fresh water (Weru, 2012). Large sections of population who have no access to other sources are forced to consume contaminated water that carries serious pathogens. In order to avoid environmental health hazards posed by untreated wastewater, it is essential that wastewater is not allowed to reach water tables without proper treatment. But the moot question is whether these countries have a robust infrastructure to store and supply fresh water to their citizens. III. Discussion Drinking water is a necessary daily bodily need for human survival. Non-availability of safe water will either lead to serious health issues or increase mortality. The question is whether governments in India and Kenya have enacted any legislation to provide safe water to their citizens. 1. Applicable Laws The 1974 Kenya Water Act was enacted with the aim to provide potable water to all households by the year 2000. In spite, at least 30% urban population cannot avail fresh water supply system in urban areas (Ogendi & Ongoa, 2009). The 1974 Act was revised in 1999 and 2002 with an aim to decentralize water services and separate out regulation and services provision from policy formulation. The 2002 water policy provisions made the government to act as a regulatory while water supply services were made the responsibility of municipalities, communities and private sector. However, such provisions could not ease water supply mainly due to ambiguity and conflict of interest. No Explicit Indian Law on “Right to Safe Drinking Water” Gonzalez, (2013) argues, "Every citizen’s legal right to “safe drinking water” is recognized under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Courts have categorically delivered in their verdicts that safe drinking water is a fundamental right; however, the fact remains that Article 21 does not clearly declare that safe drinking water is a fundamental right of citizens. It is only seen as the extension of right to food, clothing, and shelter. This was not only agreed by the National Commission but they also recommended enacting Article 30D to ensure, "Every person shall have the right to safe drinking water” (Gonzalez, 2013). It is a fact that in spite of the 2010 UN resolution to provide 50 to 100 liters of water per person every day, India has failed to enact any water legislation (Gonzalez, 2013). 2. Technological Aspects Several technological interventions are available to prevent waterborne diseases. Some of them can be elaborated as per the following. Boiling Boiling is the most prevalent method of water purification in rural Kenya. However, its consistency is questionable due to inconveniency involved. Biosand filtration is another method that is frequently used in Kenya. The method is simple, effective, and inexpensive and can be relied upon. It does not need any electricity to function and easier to maintain (Nyagwencha). Chlorination Chlorine acts as an oxidizing agent and disintegrates structures of bacteria and virus. Since long chlorination is the most preferred water purification method by municipalities in most developing countries including India and Kenya. However, higher than required amount develops taste and odor in water and it is found objectionable by many. It is needed to keep in mind that a little amount of residual chlorine is enough to keep water disinfected for several hours. Disinfection through chlorination needs to be done with the controlled dose. Wagenet et al. (2005) prescribes that residual chlorine at end point should be at least 0.5 mg/liter providing 30 minutes contact time (2). The lesser the residual chlorine, the higher the contact time is necessary. In the situation when sufficient contact time is not possible to provide, shock chlorination can be adopted with retention time of 5 minutes. However, to achieve residual chlorine levels of 0.5 mg/liter, shock chlorination is followed by removal of excess chlorine by passing water through activated carbon (charcoal) filtration system. Carbon absorbs excess chlorine from the water. Disinfecting through UV Rays While providing safe water to everyone should be the aim of any government yet due to large population spread across the wide geographical area as is the case with India, it becomes necessary that some convenient mode of technology is available for people to get safe potable water. Ultraviolet Tube Disinfection (UV Tube) device is one such technology that can remove harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. Coli), Salmonella typhi (causing typhoid fever), Vibrio Cholerae, Campylobacter spp and viruses such as Hepatitis A and rotavirus (Mariano, 2013). Usually, they are suitable for treating small volume of water, especially for home applications. The device works on electricity and the UV bulb within the device emits UV rays of sufficient intensity that kill or disintegrate deadly microorganisms when water passes through it. In India, many private manufacturers such as Aquaguard offer UV based treatment equipments with small filters to removed sedimentation and disinfect the water (Aquaguard Water Purifiers, 2014). Such small treatment units can be installed in home. The technology works well when water does not contain much suspended impurities or sedimentation because bacteria take shelter behind silt making UV rays ineffective (Mariano, 2013). 3. Prevention Strategies To safeguard people and communities from getting infected from water-borne diseases, several strategies are employed. UNICEF’s WASH strategy is one of them. UNICEF WASH Strategy UNICEF proposes a new set of strategies to assist communities, governments and families to safeguard from waterborne diseases. UNICEF has demonstrated that by giving due importance to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for children, it is possible to reduce child mortality, improve health outcomes UNICEF has formulated three pillars for sustainable and effective WASH programmes: Behavioral changes such as water safety, hand washing, and environmental sanitation practices; enabling environments that include enhancing institutional capacity at all levels, involving private sector, and using safe and reliable water supplies including private and clean sanitation facilities in schools, communities and households. UNICEF has earmarked funding to the tune of $250 million per year by 2015 raising it from 160 million per year in 2005. UNICEF engages with the private sector to enhance reach and effectiveness of the program. Partners that include pipes and pumps manufacturers, latrine artisans, spare parts distributors, media companies are engaged to tap technical and marketing capabilities so that household water treatment and promotion of hand-washing is done effectively (UNICEF water, sanitation and hygiene strategies for 2006-2015, 2005). 4. Other Relevant Topic Emerging Issues New water-related diseases emerge with time because micro-organisms mutate and evolve along with changes in environment. Increasing population burden in developing countries such as India and Kenya make the task of sanitation and safe water more cumbersome and difficult. With people migrating to urban areas where resources are already strained, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide safe water and sanitation facilities for all. Per capita safe water availability is decreasing year after year. It is also partly due to changed environment and increasing use of water in industries. It has become utmost necessary to preserve safe water exclusively for potable purposes while industries must treat their waste water and recycle it back to the process so that sustainability issues do not crop up. IV. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is amply clear that non-availability of safe drinking water to the large section of population in India and Kenya is intimidating as far as issues related to health and mortality are concerned. The lack of sanitation facilities in rural and poor urban areas makes the situation more alarming. Though UNICEF and WHO have done tremendous jobs along with respective governments towards providing safe water and improving sanitation conditions across rural and urban sectors of these countries yet overall situation is not encouraging. Even today, a large proportion of population is exposed to some of the deadly water-borne microorganisms. As ingesting water is a necessary biological requirement for survival, availability of safe potable water is must in each and every country. It is a fact that constitutional provision or legal legislation enacted in these countries is not a guarantee of safe water for every citizen. Developing countries can make significant changes only when their priorities change drastically. In a bid to provide safe potable water to all, authorities need to divert a large proportion of their development budget and resources towards creating necessary infrastructure that not only prevents contamination of water but facilitates to treating the water up to recommended WHO standards. References Aquaguard Water Purifiers (2014). WaterPurifier. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://www.waterpurifier.org/aquaguard-water-purifiers/ Gonzalez, K (2013). Indian Water Law. Columbia Undergraduate Law Review. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/culr/2013/07/05/indian-water-law/ The Guardian (2010). Poor sanitation breeds disease and exploitation in Kenyas slums. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2010/sep/28/kenya-slums-poor-sanitation- disease-exploitation Mariano, E. (2013). The UV Tube: Technology and Preventing Waterborne Diseases. Global Health Review. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://www.globalhealthreview.org/diseases/the-uv-tube-technology-and-preventing-waterborne-diseases/ Nyagwencha, J. M., Kaluli, J. W., Home, P. G., Murage, H. (n. d). Access to Safe Drinking Water and Water Borne Diseases in Masaba North District, Kenya. Retrieved November 16, 2014 from http://elearning.jkuat.ac.ke/journals/ojs/index.php/jscp/article/viewFile/750/690 Ogendi, G.M.& Ongoa, I.M. (2009). Water Policy, Accessibility and Water Ethics in Kenya. Santa Clara Journal of International Law. 7(1). 176-196. [also available at http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1065&context=scujil Ramchandraiah, C. (n. d). Right to Drinking Water in India. Centre for Economic and Social Studies. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://www.cess.ac.in/cesshome/wp%5CWater.pdf UNICEF, (2014). Water, Environment and Sanitation. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://www.unicef.org/india/wes.html UNICEF water, sanitation and hygiene strategies for 2006-2015 (2005). United Nations Economic and Social Council. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://www.unicef.org/about/execboard/files/06-6_WASH_final_ODS.pdf Wagenet, L., Heidekamp, A., Lemley, A. (2005). Water Treatment. cornell.edu. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://waterquality.cce.cornell.edu/publications/CCEWQ-05-ChlorinationDrinkingWtr.pdf Weru, G. (2012). Nairobi rivers pose health, safety hazards. Kenya Daily Nation. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/nairobi-rivers-pose-health-safety-hazards WHO (2014). Water Quality Interventions to Prevent Diarrhoea: Cost and Cost-Effectiveness. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/economic/prevent_diarrhoea/en/ Read More