Risk of Waterborne Illness Via Drinking Water in the United States
Top Cited Papers
- 1 January 2008
- book chapter
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
- Vol. 192, 117-158
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71724-1_4
Abstract
The quality of drinking water in the United States is among the best in the world; however, waterborne disease outbreaks continue to occur, and many more cases of endemic illness are estimated. Documented waterborne disease outbreaks are primarily the result of technological failures or failure to treat the water ( Craun et al. 2006 ). Current federal regulations require that all surface waters used for a drinking water supply be treated to reduce the level of pathogens so as to reduce the risk of infection to 1:10,000 per year ( Regli et al. 1991 ). To achieve this goal, water treatment must, at a minimum, reduce infectious viruses by 99.99% and protozoan parasites by 99.9% ( Regli et al. 2003 ). If Cryptosporidium concentrations exceed a certain level in the source water, additional reductions are required. This degree of treatment is usually achieved by a combination of physical processes (coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration) and disinfection (chlorination, ozonation). Filtration is essential for the removal of protozoan parasites due to their resistance to chlorination and ozonation at doses normally used in drinking water treatment ( Barbeau et al. 2000 ; Korich et al. 1990 ; Rennecker et al. 1999 ). A variance from filtration is allowed in some cases if the watershed is protected and carefully monitored for protozoan pathogens.Keywords
This publication has 90 references indexed in Scilit:
- Bats and human emerging diseasesEpidemiology and Infection, 2006
- A role of high impact weather events in waterborne disease outbreaks in Canada, 1975 – 2001International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2006
- ReducingLegionellaColonization of Water Systems with MonochloramineEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2006
- Concentrations of Pathogens and Indicators in Animal Feces in the Sydney WatershedApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2005
- Contribution of drinking water to the weekly intake of heterotrophic bacteria from diet in the United StatesWater Research, 2005
- Survey of Parasites and Bacterial Pathogens from Free-Living Waterfowl in Zoological SettingsAvian Diseases, 2004
- Vulnerability of Drinking-Water Wells in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Enteric-Virus Contamination from Surface Water ContributionsApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2004
- Poor efficacy of residual chlorine disinfectant in drinking water to inactivate waterborne pathogens in distribution systemsCanadian Journal of Microbiology, 1999
- A prospective epidemiological study of gastrointestinal health effects due to the consumption of drinking waterInternational Journal of Environmental Health Research, 1997
- Waterborne rotavirus: A risk assessmentWater Research, 1996