How to protect water supplies !

By Joachim Ezeji

 

One of the greatest challenges currently facing the water sector is how to effectively access and manage the safety of water sources in order to meet targets outlined in the Millennium Development Goals. On top of this concern is the fact that water quality is an essential component of public health. Traditionally, drinking water supplies from groundwater have often been associated with natural quality problems which are often related to local geology. This is so because the interaction between water and rock forming minerals during groundwater circulation may lead to the build-up of harmful concentration of some trace elements. Other health effects in drinking water supplies from groundwater may be caused by element deficiencies where rocks have low concentration of essential elements. Water may also be unacceptable due to aesthetic problems such as bad odour or taste (caused, for example by iron and hydrogen sulphide) or staining problems (iron and manganese). However, and by far, the greatest water-quality problem in developing countries including Nigeria is the prevalence of water-borne diseases, especially gastro-enteritis which is related to faecal pollution and inadequate hygiene. There is no doubt that health can be compromised when harmful pathogens contaminate drinking water either at the source, through seepage of contaminated run-off water, or within the piped distribution system. Moreover unhygienic handling of water during transport or within the home can contaminate previously safe water. The choice of an appropriate sanitation system for growing and dense urban populations is increasingly becoming a public health concern particularly in the developing world. The F-Diagram had underscored sanitation as an imperative intervention necessary for breaking the link between human waste (excreta) and the individual (person), but is that actually the case with many sanitation systems covertly discharging poorly treated effluents to water bodies?. In the face of this realization, are latrines/ toilets still to be recorded as sustainable stop gaps for the spread of faecal pathogens?; Does the discharge of poorly treated and raw faecal matter and effluents into streams, rivers and ground water not compromise public health?, Is the problem a technology and management issue or a construction and development issue? A 2006 World Health Organisation (WHO) report had revealed that as much as 24% of global disease is caused by environmental exposures which can be averted. Well-targeted interventions can prevent much of this environmental risk, the WHO report said. The report further estimates that more than 33% of disease in children under the age of 5 is caused by environmental exposures. Preventing environmental risk could save as many as four million lives a year in children alone, mostly in developing countries.  The report, Preventing disease through healthy environments - towards an estimate of the environmental burden of disease, is the most comprehensive and systematic study yet undertaken on how preventable environmental hazards contribute to a wide range of diseases and injuries.  By focusing on the environmental causes of disease, and how various diseases are influenced by environmental factors, the analysis breaks new ground in understanding the interactions between environment and health. The estimate reflects how much death, illness and disability could be realistically avoided every year as a result of better environmental management. The report estimates that more than 13 million deaths annually are due to preventable environmental causes. Nearly one third of death and disease in the least developed regions is due to environmental causes. Over 40% of deaths from malaria and an estimated 94% of deaths from diarrhoeal diseases, two of the world’s biggest childhood killers, could be prevented through better environmental management. The four main diseases influenced by poor environments are diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, various forms of unintentional injuries, and malaria. Measures which could be taken now to reduce this environmental disease burden include the promotion of safe household water storage and better hygienic measures; the use of cleaner and safer fuels; increased safety of the built environment, more judicious use and management of toxic substances in the home and workplace; better water resource management.                                                                                                       

 

 “For the first time, this new report shows how specific diseases and injuries are influenced by environmental risks and by how much,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director of WHO’s Department for Public Health and Environment. “It also shows very clearly the gains that would accrue both to public health and to the general environment by a series of straightforward, coordinated investments. We call on ministries of health, environment and other partners to work together to ensure that these environmental and public health gains become a reality.”           

The report and executive summary - Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments: towards an estimate of the environmental burden of disease can be found on: http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/preventingdisease/en/index.html.

In view of the foregoing, it is germane to underscore that as stated above; an estimated 94% of deaths from diarrhoeal diseases is a big issue and generally an issue linked directly with sanitation as well as hygiene. Preventing these through better environmental management is the kernel of my study.  Measures already listed that could be taken now to reduce this environmental disease burden include amongst others the promotion of safe household water storage and better hygienic measures; and the  increased safety of the built environment, as well as better water resource management.                                                                                                       

To achieve these measures I agree with the fact that sanitation systems involves all arrangements necessary to store, collect, process and deliver human wastes back to nature in a safe manner. Sanitation systems with respect to human waste management may be considered to have the following functions; excretion and storage; collection and transportation; process/treatment; and disposal /recycle. Sanitation represents an immense problem that appears differently in various parts of the world. In the developing countries like Nigeria, its lack or inadequacy is the major issue. It should not be forgotten that sanitation options basically depend on the type of water supply, management of wastes, receiving water quality and environment. For instance, public water supply and the flush toilet principle automatically entail expensive sewerage and wastewater treatment that need to constantly be upgraded due to the recognition of emerging problems. Thus, it is evident that sanitation is not only a health and technology issue but much more; environmental, sustainability, social, institutional, and legislative implications are also crucial, and a broad approach is looked for that takes into account all these aspects when selecting from the various existing alternatives.The classification of sanitation as on-site or off-site systems depends on whether the waste is stored, treated and disposed of at the point of generation or transported to somewhere else for treatment and/or disposal. When the wastes are collected, treated and disposed of at the point of generation, it is called an on-site system e.g. pit latrines and septic tank systems etc.

Next week I will discuss this a little further.

 

To be continued next week.

Understanding Access to water!

Water supply services has been defined (Van Koppen, 2006) as the provision of water of a given quality and quantity with a given reliability at a given time. This definition emphasizes the outputs; what people receive, rather than the inputs: the hardware (or technology, or schemes; all used interchangeably) and the software (skills, capacities and institutions required to manage hardware and water resources) that are implied in terms such as “water supply system” or “irrigation scheme”.

According to Van Koppen (2006; 19) a water service should have the following three features in order to effect multiple uses; A service should be reliable and constant or, for seasonal uses, predictable.

Read more

The Urgency of Expanding Water Supplies in Imo State

The Imo State Water Supply and Sanitation project was a pilot intervention launched in late 1982. The project was designed to improve health and hygiene in poor rural communities through low-cost technology and appropriate educational support. The project had installed boreholes with hand pumps, promoted ventilated improved pit latrines, provided health and hygiene education through village- based workers and encouraged a high level of community involvement in each of the three beneficial villages.

An important component was the evaluation of its impact on health. This evaluation was a collaborative venture undertaken by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Imo State Government, the World Health Organization (WHO), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos.

Despite the result of the widely shared and globally disseminated report on that pilot UNICEF project in Nigeria,  Imo State, almost three decades after, just like many other states in Nigeria is still unable to provide potable water to even one-tenth of its population. At the moment, not one of its 27 local government council

Read more

NGO advances Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage Project

The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian NGO, Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP) Mr. Joachim Ezeji has called on the Federal Government to formulate and adopt a new policy that would mainstream Household water treatment and safe storage into water supply schemes in the country. Speaking last week on the occasion of the NGO’s entry into its target 28th community in Igbokoda, Iladje local government area of Ondo State; Mr. Joachim Ezeji said that the poor management of wastes particularly poorly built toilet systems and the absence of sanitary landfills and have underscored the importance of a point-of-use water treatment system that can secure public health.

Mr. Ezeji lamented that wastes from food and their derivatives, wood, plastics, ceramics, disposable cans, garden debris, textiles, glass and bottles, litter receptacles, toxic, pathogenic, highly flammable, explosive and radioactive materials, scrap metals, human excreta and animal dung, shavings, pipes, brick and masonry material, syringes, unused drugs and other medical derivatives as well as dead humans and animals are a mix of municipal solid wastes that are ever increasing health hazards through water source pollution.

Read more

Expert advices FG on Climate Change

An environmental  social enterpreneur and member of the UK based Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) has called on the federal government of Nigeria to be proactive in meeting and addressing the challenges of climate change. Mr. Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji who is also the CEO of Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP) advised on the need for the FG to rise to the demands of reducing green house gas emissions and decreasing people’s vulnerability through adaptation actions that mitigate climate change impacts.

Mr. Ezeji opined that the effects of climate change have already been felt in many parts of the country with the modifications of the intensity and seasonal nature of the rains, the elevation of average annual temperatures, and the increased frequency of widespread, high impact weather phenomena.

Read more

Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji; courageously building the future with action and vision

Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji is the Chief Executive Officer of Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP), and a member of many professional organizations including the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) UK. His research interests are related to institutional and community water governance, drinking water quality and urban poverty in developing countries of Africa. He was coordinator of a World Bank -funded development project ‘Mor-sand filter for oil producing communities’ that aims to assist households in oil producing communities to maximize the quality of their drinking water supply and free them from the burdens of ill-health caused by human and industrial pollution. (www.mor-sandfilter.org).

This project provided the background for a new project “Project 78 for 78,000 filters in 2012”; a nexus that seeks to set up 78 local filter factories, each to be headed by 1 of the trained 78 youths now working as ‘Clean Water artisans’. Each filter factory will accordingly be supported to manufacture 1000 filters by the end of the project year in 2012; by so doing, the project aims to produce 78,000 filters for 78,000 households serving well over 624,000 people in 78 dispersed communities. The project is optimizing relevant tools and approaches in community participation to engage the communities, promote household hygiene and achieve sustainability in filter use and efficient adoption.

Joachim currently holds an MSc in Water and Environmental Management which he earned from the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC), Loughborough University in 2007.Earlier he had obtained a Bachelor of science in Geology from the University of Calabar, Nigeria. He has broad interest and work experience in Governance and Capacity Building Issues in the context of the water, sanitation and urban slum upgrading targets; and the World Bank Poverty Reduction Strategy Processes – PRSP; and Sustainable Water Management Systems and Diffuse Pollution Management.

Top amongst Joachim’s current research work is how to effectively maximize the Barrier impacts of sanitation systems on diarrhea through source separation of urine and flush water in order to protect drinking water sources and safeguard public health in Nigeria.

Contributed by:

Mr. Agbai Odionyema

Rate this:

3.2

Next Page »