Alex Yao Sokemawu Freeman, Aaron Ganizani, Annie Chauma Mwale, Innocent Kauta Manda, James Chitete, Gift Phiri, Bashil Stambuli, Elias Chimulambe, Mougabe Koslengar, Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo, Alisa Bita, R. R. Apolot, Hamid Mponda, Randy George Mungwira, Gertrude Chapotera, Chol Thabo Yur, Nelly Jepkonga Yatich, Terence Totah, Freddie Mantchombe, D. Chamla, O. Olu
{"title":"Analyses of drinking water quality during a protracted cholera epidemic in Malawi – a cross-sectional study of key physicochemical and microbiological parameters","authors":"Alex Yao Sokemawu Freeman, Aaron Ganizani, Annie Chauma Mwale, Innocent Kauta Manda, James Chitete, Gift Phiri, Bashil Stambuli, Elias Chimulambe, Mougabe Koslengar, Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo, Alisa Bita, R. R. Apolot, Hamid Mponda, Randy George Mungwira, Gertrude Chapotera, Chol Thabo Yur, Nelly Jepkonga Yatich, Terence Totah, Freddie Mantchombe, D. Chamla, O. Olu","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.283","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 Anecdotal evidence and available literature indicated that contaminated water played a major role in spreading the prolonged cholera epidemic in Malawi from 2022 to 2023. This study assessed drinking water quality in 17 cholera-affected Malawi districts from February to April 2023. Six hundred and thirty-three records were analysed. The median counts/100 ml for thermotolerant coliform was 98 (interquartile range (IQR): 4–100) and that for Escherichia coli was 0 (IQR: 0–9). The drinking water in all (except one) districts was contaminated by thermotolerant coliform, while six districts had their drinking water sources contaminated by E. coli. The percentage of contaminated drinking water sources was significantly higher in shallow unprotected wells (80.0% for E. coli and 95.0% for thermotolerant coliform) and in households (55.8% for E. coli and 86.0% for thermotolerant coliform). Logistic regression showed that household water has three times more risk of being contaminated by E. coli and two and a half times more risk of being contaminated by thermotolerant coliform compared to other water sources. This study demonstrated widespread contamination of drinking water sources during a cholera epidemic in Malawi, which may be the plausible reason for the protracted nature of the epidemic.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"89 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139794837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alex Yao Sokemawu Freeman, Aaron Ganizani, Annie Chauma Mwale, Innocent Kauta Manda, James Chitete, Gift Phiri, Bashil Stambuli, Elias Chimulambe, Mougabe Koslengar, Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo, Alisa Bita, R. R. Apolot, Hamid Mponda, Randy George Mungwira, Gertrude Chapotera, Chol Thabo Yur, Nelly Jepkonga Yatich, Terence Totah, Freddie Mantchombe, D. Chamla, O. Olu
{"title":"Analyses of drinking water quality during a protracted cholera epidemic in Malawi – a cross-sectional study of key physicochemical and microbiological parameters","authors":"Alex Yao Sokemawu Freeman, Aaron Ganizani, Annie Chauma Mwale, Innocent Kauta Manda, James Chitete, Gift Phiri, Bashil Stambuli, Elias Chimulambe, Mougabe Koslengar, Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo, Alisa Bita, R. R. Apolot, Hamid Mponda, Randy George Mungwira, Gertrude Chapotera, Chol Thabo Yur, Nelly Jepkonga Yatich, Terence Totah, Freddie Mantchombe, D. Chamla, O. Olu","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.283","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 Anecdotal evidence and available literature indicated that contaminated water played a major role in spreading the prolonged cholera epidemic in Malawi from 2022 to 2023. This study assessed drinking water quality in 17 cholera-affected Malawi districts from February to April 2023. Six hundred and thirty-three records were analysed. The median counts/100 ml for thermotolerant coliform was 98 (interquartile range (IQR): 4–100) and that for Escherichia coli was 0 (IQR: 0–9). The drinking water in all (except one) districts was contaminated by thermotolerant coliform, while six districts had their drinking water sources contaminated by E. coli. The percentage of contaminated drinking water sources was significantly higher in shallow unprotected wells (80.0% for E. coli and 95.0% for thermotolerant coliform) and in households (55.8% for E. coli and 86.0% for thermotolerant coliform). Logistic regression showed that household water has three times more risk of being contaminated by E. coli and two and a half times more risk of being contaminated by thermotolerant coliform compared to other water sources. This study demonstrated widespread contamination of drinking water sources during a cholera epidemic in Malawi, which may be the plausible reason for the protracted nature of the epidemic.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"106 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139854621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Shaheen, Nehal I. Ahmed, Kareem Radi, Elmahdy M. Elmahdy
{"title":"Detection and quantification of adenovirus, polyomavirus, and papillomavirus in urban sewage","authors":"M. Shaheen, Nehal I. Ahmed, Kareem Radi, Elmahdy M. Elmahdy","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.322","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 The objective of this study was to assess the occurrence and seasonal frequency of human adenovirus (HAdV), human polyomavirus (HPyV), and human papillomavirus (HPV) in urban sewage. The detection of these viruses was carried out by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and then the viral concentrations in the positive samples were quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Additionally, genotyping of HAdV and HPyV was also performed by PCR. A total of 38/60 (63.3%) positive samples were found. HAdV was the most prevalent virus (26/60; 43.3%), followed by HPyV (21/60; 35%) and HPV (21/60; 35%). The viral concentrations in the positive samples ranged from 3.56 × 102 to 7.55 × 107 genome copies/L. The most common dual viral agents was found between HAdV and HPyV, in eight samples (8/38, 21%). HAdV types 40 and 41 as well as HPyV types JC and BK were identified, with HAdV-40 and HPyV JC being the most prevalent types. Furthermore, the detection rates of HAdV, HPyV, and HPV were higher during the winter season than the other tested seasons. The high prevalence of HAdV and HPyV supports their suitability as viral indicators of sewage contamination. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the advantages of environmental surveillance as a tool to elucidate the community-circulating viruses.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"105 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139857893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Regina Theresa Counihan Souter, Doug Ruuska, Sarah Pene, Collin Benjamin, Sheila Funubo, Cara Beal, Rosanna Sanderson, Suliasi Batikawai, Ana Ravai, Tema Antoinette-Wickham, Tom Rankin, Lindah Peter, Heather Molitambe, Gaston Theophile, Sachita Shrestha, K. Kotra, Hugo Buguro, Nixon Panda, Vimal Deo, Mark Love
{"title":"Strengthening rural community water safety planning in Pacific Island countries: evidence and lessons from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji","authors":"Regina Theresa Counihan Souter, Doug Ruuska, Sarah Pene, Collin Benjamin, Sheila Funubo, Cara Beal, Rosanna Sanderson, Suliasi Batikawai, Ana Ravai, Tema Antoinette-Wickham, Tom Rankin, Lindah Peter, Heather Molitambe, Gaston Theophile, Sachita Shrestha, K. Kotra, Hugo Buguro, Nixon Panda, Vimal Deo, Mark Love","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.144","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) collectively have the lowest rates of access to safely managed or basic drinking water and sanitation globally. They are also the least urbanised and have dynamic socioeconomic and increasing climate-based challenges. Community-based water managers need to effectively respond to variability in water availability and quality caused by a range of hazards. Water safety planning (WSP), a widely adopted approach to managing water quality and quantity offers a risk-based approach to mitigating both existing and future hazards. WSP is adaptable, and making modifications to prescribed WSP to localise it is a common practice globally. As part of the Pacific Community Water Management Plus project, we used formative research and co-development processes to understand existing modifications, to know whether further modifications are required, and to identify, where possible pilot, additional modifications to WSP in Fiji, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands. The types of additional localisations that were recommended reflect the unique context of PICs, including adjusting for community-based water management, community governance, levels of social cohesion, and preferred adult-learning pedagogies. Incorporating these factors into future WSP will improve the likelihood of sustained and safe community water services.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"492 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139860270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Regina Theresa Counihan Souter, Doug Ruuska, Sarah Pene, Collin Benjamin, Sheila Funubo, Cara Beal, Rosanna Sanderson, Suliasi Batikawai, Ana Ravai, Tema Antoinette-Wickham, Tom Rankin, Lindah Peter, Heather Molitambe, Gaston Theophile, Sachita Shrestha, K. Kotra, Hugo Buguro, Nixon Panda, Vimal Deo, Mark Love
{"title":"Strengthening rural community water safety planning in Pacific Island countries: evidence and lessons from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji","authors":"Regina Theresa Counihan Souter, Doug Ruuska, Sarah Pene, Collin Benjamin, Sheila Funubo, Cara Beal, Rosanna Sanderson, Suliasi Batikawai, Ana Ravai, Tema Antoinette-Wickham, Tom Rankin, Lindah Peter, Heather Molitambe, Gaston Theophile, Sachita Shrestha, K. Kotra, Hugo Buguro, Nixon Panda, Vimal Deo, Mark Love","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.144","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) collectively have the lowest rates of access to safely managed or basic drinking water and sanitation globally. They are also the least urbanised and have dynamic socioeconomic and increasing climate-based challenges. Community-based water managers need to effectively respond to variability in water availability and quality caused by a range of hazards. Water safety planning (WSP), a widely adopted approach to managing water quality and quantity offers a risk-based approach to mitigating both existing and future hazards. WSP is adaptable, and making modifications to prescribed WSP to localise it is a common practice globally. As part of the Pacific Community Water Management Plus project, we used formative research and co-development processes to understand existing modifications, to know whether further modifications are required, and to identify, where possible pilot, additional modifications to WSP in Fiji, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands. The types of additional localisations that were recommended reflect the unique context of PICs, including adjusting for community-based water management, community governance, levels of social cohesion, and preferred adult-learning pedagogies. Incorporating these factors into future WSP will improve the likelihood of sustained and safe community water services.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"22 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139800296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
James F. Walsh, Deanna P. Scher, Jane R de Lambert, Anita C. Anderson
{"title":"Risk factors for Cryptosporidium contamination in Minnesota public supply wells","authors":"James F. Walsh, Deanna P. Scher, Jane R de Lambert, Anita C. Anderson","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.361","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.361","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 In a recent monitoring study of Minnesota's public supply wells, Cryptosporidium was commonly detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, with 40% of the wells having at least one detection. Risk factors for Cryptosporidium occurrence in drinking water supply wells, beyond surface water influence, remain poorly understood. To address this gap, physical and chemical factors were assessed as potential predictors of Cryptosporidium occurrence in 135 public supply wells in Minnesota. Univariable analysis, regression techniques, and classification trees were used to analyze the data. Many variables were identified as significant risk factors in univariable analysis and several remained significant throughout the succeeding analysis techniques. These factors fell into general categories of well use and construction, aquifer characteristics, and connectedness to the land surface, well capture zones, and land use therein, existence of potential contaminant sources within 200-feet of the well, and variability in the chemical and isotopic parameters measured during the study. These risk categories, and the specific variables and threshold values we have identified, can help guide future research on factors influencing Cryptosporidium contamination of wells and can be used by environmental health programs to develop risk-based sampling plans and design interventions that reduce associated health risks.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"31 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139803204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A machine learning approach for predicting and localizing the failure and damage point in sewer networks due to pipe properties","authors":"M. Goodarzi, Seyedmajiddodin Vazirian","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.249","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 As a basic infrastructure, sewers play an important role in the innards of every city and town to remove unsanitary water from all kinds of livable and functional spaces. Sewer pipe failures (SPFs) are unwanted and unsafe in many ways, as the disturbance that they cause is undeniable. Unlike water distribution systems, sewer pipe networks meet manholes more often as water movement is due to gravity and manholes are needed in every intersection as well as through pipe length. Many studies have been focused on sewer pipe failures and so on, but few investigations have been done to show the effect of manhole proximity on pipe failure. Predicting and localizing the sewer pipe failures are affected by different parameters of sewer pipe properties, such as material, age, slope, and depth of the sewer pipes. This study investigates the applicability of a support vector machine (SVM), a supervised machine learning (ML) algorithm, for the development of a prediction model to predict sewer pipe failures and the effects of manhole proximity. The results show that SVM with an accuracy of 84% can properly approximate the manhole effects on sewer pipe failures.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"53 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139863465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
James F. Walsh, Deanna P. Scher, Jane R de Lambert, Anita C. Anderson
{"title":"Risk factors for Cryptosporidium contamination in Minnesota public supply wells","authors":"James F. Walsh, Deanna P. Scher, Jane R de Lambert, Anita C. Anderson","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.361","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.361","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 In a recent monitoring study of Minnesota's public supply wells, Cryptosporidium was commonly detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, with 40% of the wells having at least one detection. Risk factors for Cryptosporidium occurrence in drinking water supply wells, beyond surface water influence, remain poorly understood. To address this gap, physical and chemical factors were assessed as potential predictors of Cryptosporidium occurrence in 135 public supply wells in Minnesota. Univariable analysis, regression techniques, and classification trees were used to analyze the data. Many variables were identified as significant risk factors in univariable analysis and several remained significant throughout the succeeding analysis techniques. These factors fell into general categories of well use and construction, aquifer characteristics, and connectedness to the land surface, well capture zones, and land use therein, existence of potential contaminant sources within 200-feet of the well, and variability in the chemical and isotopic parameters measured during the study. These risk categories, and the specific variables and threshold values we have identified, can help guide future research on factors influencing Cryptosporidium contamination of wells and can be used by environmental health programs to develop risk-based sampling plans and design interventions that reduce associated health risks.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"89 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139863010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A machine learning approach for predicting and localizing the failure and damage point in sewer networks due to pipe properties","authors":"M. Goodarzi, Seyedmajiddodin Vazirian","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.249","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 As a basic infrastructure, sewers play an important role in the innards of every city and town to remove unsanitary water from all kinds of livable and functional spaces. Sewer pipe failures (SPFs) are unwanted and unsafe in many ways, as the disturbance that they cause is undeniable. Unlike water distribution systems, sewer pipe networks meet manholes more often as water movement is due to gravity and manholes are needed in every intersection as well as through pipe length. Many studies have been focused on sewer pipe failures and so on, but few investigations have been done to show the effect of manhole proximity on pipe failure. Predicting and localizing the sewer pipe failures are affected by different parameters of sewer pipe properties, such as material, age, slope, and depth of the sewer pipes. This study investigates the applicability of a support vector machine (SVM), a supervised machine learning (ML) algorithm, for the development of a prediction model to predict sewer pipe failures and the effects of manhole proximity. The results show that SVM with an accuracy of 84% can properly approximate the manhole effects on sewer pipe failures.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"6 19","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139803717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Field study of an arsenic removal plant for drinking water using activated carbon and iron in a rural community in the province of Pisco, Peru","authors":"Manuel Chavez, Betsabé Ana Ruffner","doi":"10.2166/wh.2024.273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2024.273","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The presence of arsenic in Peru is a serious public health problem due to the geographical extension of populations that consume water with arsenic concentrations above the value recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). An arsenic removal plant has been studied in a community of 50 families located in the province of Pisco, Peru, a filter media of activated carbon impregnated with iron (AC-Fe) was applied, the adsorption capacity of the material was studied against As(V) and As(III) species, also, a possible decrease in the adsorption capacity of chloride and sulfate ions. Modifications were made to the plant layout based on filtration columns and workflows. The arsenic level was reduced to levels recommended by the WHO, the plant production was estimated at 9,000 volumes of water bed until reaching its breakpoint. An optimum working flow rate of 1.8 m3 h−1 was found, it was also found that the zeolite column used for suspended solids removal did not contribute to the reduction of arsenic concentration, and the presence of ions did not reduce the arsenic removal capacity.","PeriodicalId":502550,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Water and Health","volume":"38 24","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139599726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}