Bacteria in city water supply causing diarrhoeal disease

NEWS report in a national daily on Thursday said fifty-five percent of urban households surveyed across the country use water that contains risky levels of hazardous bacteria called E. coli at source, The report has quoted the findings of a survey conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) to highlight the high health risk from the use of such contaminated water. Analysts say its use can cause diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases to make public health vulnerable often unnoticed. The matter has remained untraced so far for lack of field level investigation and partly for lack of public awareness about the risks to public life from it.
Experts say that bacterial contamination of water at source happens mainly because of leakages in water pipes that allow bacteria to enter the running water. Though Bangladesh has set a parameter that zero E. coli should be found in a 100-millilitre sample of drinking water, the bacteria has been found from 1 to more than 100 colony forming units (cfu) per 100-ml sample of water, as per the BBS findings. This is the first time that the national statistical agency – BBS, with support from UNICEF, compiled data on E. coli contamination of water after testing water samples at icddr,b laboratory in Dhaka. The findings showed bacterial contamination of water in urban areas is much higher than the national level where 41.7 percent of households use water with medium (1 to 10 cfu per 100-ml sample of water) to very high level (more than 100 cfu) of E. coli. In urban areas, 18 percent of households use water that has very high level of E. coli meaning serious exposure to health risks.
BBS survey findings covered data from 51,895 households in 64 districts from December 2012 to April 2013. Water samples were collected from 2,543 of the households and were tested for E. coli laboratory facilities. Experts hold the view that water has to be boiled or filtered for purification. As middle class and upper middle income groups usually do this, they are less likely to be affected. But the poor and low income people, who don’t have the scope for boiling water or the ability to afford filters and are less aware of the risk are more likely to be affected.
We know that issues related to public health need to be handled by scientific methods; which are highly technical and demands to be carried out by appropriate agencies with scientific knowledge. But making the results of the findings on public health risks is a matter of public awareness campaign and the government and non-government organizations must take initiative to make people aware of it.
Prevalence of diarrhoea and such other water-borne diseases are almost a common scene, particularly in Dhaka city and the crowding of patients at Mohakhali icddr,b hospital shows how endemic it becomes at some points. The matter is that most people don’t know the reason for it. We hope that the findings of the BBS study would be helpful to reducing the risks from the use of bacteria contaminated water and make public health hazards free.