18 - Water Flashcards
When natural disasters strike, what is the most immediate need for the population?
Water
Bc of waste contamination, lack of clean drinking water
How much water was delivered to Puerto Rico in 2017 after Hurricane Maria? Lasted how long?
38 million water bottles
Only 3 days supply of drinking water for the 3.5 million residents
Water footprint includes…
Our “physical water” and “virtual water” demands
Virtual water = all things produced, eaten or grown that require water
Production of one kg of beef needs how much water? 1 cup of coffee?
1 kg beef = 15 thousand liters of water
1 cup coffee = 140 L water
Total volume of water used in Alberta every year? Per person
9,891,606,000,000
per person = 2,355,144 L
How many L of water used to produce _____ barrels of oil per day in USA
2.5 billion L/day to produce 12.5 million barrels/day
What % of total global water is freshwater? What % of that makes up surface water?
2.5% (rest is oceans)
1.2% is surface
Slide 15
Between now and 2050 global water demand will increase how much?
30%
What % of water is consumed by agriculture? Food production is expected to increase how much by 2050?
70%
Expected to increase 60%
The future global economy could be built around…
Environmental credits in carbon and water
Slides 19,20
Global water security assessment
Current # of people affected by water scarcity? In 2050?
Current ~750 million
Rise to >3 billion
55% of India’s major cities will..
run dry of water in 20 years
How many people still drink fecally contaminated water? Practice open-defecation? How many diarrheal episodes per year due to consumption of contaminated water?
1.8 billion still drink
1:7 people practice
60 billion episodes
Trend in deaths due to infectious diseases in the US? Why?
Has been declining since 1900s
Drinking water treatment and sanitation started being developed in 1850 = control of infectious disease
Water-related exposure pathways (6)
- drinking water (municipal, groundwater, ice)
- recreational water (swimming pools, beaches)
- irrigation water (foodborne infections)
- aerosols (humidifiers, AC, toilet flush)
- ambient water (floods, agricultural prod, recreation)
- recycled/reused water (wastewater, stormwater, rainwater)
Three classifications of water-related microbial diseases
- water contact disease
- water vectored disease
- waterborne disease
What is a water contact disease? E.g.
Disease acquired through physical contact with contaminated water
e.g. Schistosoma spp (Human schistosomiasis)
Describe Human schistosomiasis pathogens
S. japonicum, S. mansoni
Parasitic worm, lives in hepatic portal vein
Produces eggs for 20 years, gets pushed into intestinal tract
Slide 29, 30
Impacts of schistosomiasis
- 235 million active cases worldwide
- children, women and workers associated with water are high risk
- children most affected = poor school performance, stunted growth
What is a water vectored disease? Examples?
Disease transmitted by vectors which depend on water for their development
e.g.
- malaria
- Onchocerca volvulus
- Heart worm (dogs)
- mosquito transmitted pathogens (yellow fever, dengue)
Two types of waterborne diseases with examples
a. waterborne diseases acquired through inhalation (e.g. Legionella pneumophila, non-tuberculosis Mycobacterium)
b. Waterborne diseases acquired by ingestion (pathogens associated with fecal-oral transmission e.g. Cryptosporidium, E. coli… or non-fecal sources e.g. Dracunculus medinensis)
Most common pathogens causing infectious disease outbreaks related to drinking water in Canada
Giardia (34%)
Campylobacter sp (16%)
Salmonella (11%)
Cryptosporidium (10%)
Origin of microbial indicators of water quality
- Monitoring bacterial contamination of drinking water proposed in 1885 by Frankland after London cholera outbreak
- in 1892, Schardinger proposed E. coli as indicator of fecal contamination of water
- little has changed for 100 yrs
Why is E coli used as microbial indicator of water? Characteristics?
- subgroup of fecal coliforms
- lives in intestines of warm blooded animals
- excreted in large quantities in feces
- limited growth in environment
- easy to grow in lab
- highly susceptible to disinfection
- produces enzyme B-glucuronidase used in identification
How do we test water for E coli? How does it work?
Defined Substrate Testing
- blue/fluorescent = E coli
- colourless = negative
- yellow = coliforms
MUG is molecule that is source of carbon for energy metabolism
Only bacteria w B-glucuronidase can cleave MUG molecule and use as C source
What is MPN
Most probably number
Number of e coli present in water in a defined substrate test
Where is water testing done in Alberta? Test how many samples?
In the Environmental Microbiology Program (2 labs in EDM & CALG)
Test >240,000 water samples across province every year
