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Safe drinking water in all areas
Helvi Heinonen-Tanski (Ed.)
1/2013
ITÄ-SUOMEN YLIOPISTON YMPÄRISTÖTIETEEN LAITOKSEN
JULKAISUSARJA
PUBLICATION SERIES OF DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE,
UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND
YMPÄRISTÖTIETEEN LAITOS, ITÄ-SUOMEN YLIOPISTO
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND
PO Box 1627, FI-70211 KUOPIO, FINLAND
ISSN 1799-1676
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Contents
Helvi Heinonen-Tanski: Safe drinking water in all areas ………………………………..…… 3
Sanjeeb Saha: World’s Water Problem ……………………………………………………….. 4
Tuuli I. Haataja: Deliberate release of biological material into drinking water systems –
decontamination aspects ………………………………………………..……………………. 19
Joshua Nartey: Conservation of tropical water bodies ..……….………………….………… 32
Hem Raj Bhattarai: Effects of heavy rainfall on drinking water during dry and monsoon
seasons in Nepal ……………………………………………………………………………… 43
Alyaa Zyara: Water Problems in Iraq …………………………………………...…………… 57
Pedro Morell Miranda: Risks of seaside fresh water lagoons derived of human activities on
the eastern Spanish coast …………………………….………………………………………. 73
Emmanuel Kafui Abu-Danso: Protection of rivers and lakes ……………………………….. 82
G. Isaac Adesanoye: Water problems in West Africa . ………………………………………91
Thomas Agyei: Methods to identify and detect microbial contaminants in drinking water .. 100
John Bright Agyemang: Forest and Water Quality/Quantity in Ghana ……………………. 110
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Safe drinking water in all areas
The climate in our planet has always changed since the position and distance between earth and sun
varies always. Thus the northern side is turned more toward to sun during summer in northern
hemisphere and the southern side during summer in southern hemisphere. Even air phase has been
much more reduced without any free oxygen before development of modern photosynthesis mechanism
evidently by cyanobacteria. The modern photosynthetic organisms utilized efficiently atmospheric
carbon dioxide and water and they produced free oxygen and organic carbon partly used today as coal
and other fossil fuels. Only after this so called revolution of oxygen our own aerobic respiration has
developed.
There have been volcanic active times so that the solar radiation has been decreased and sulphur
dioxide concentration in air has been relative high. The Finnish bedrock has sometimes been close to
equator and sometimes it has been covered by thick ice. Also the continents have been different in
different times including their distance from equator. Anyhow, the previously the great climatic
changes have happened slowly and now after industrial era the concentrations of atmospheric carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse have rapidly increased. Increase of temperature is one of its
consequences and it is often argued the so great change has newer happen in so short time.
If the temperature varies it is evident that the precipitation will also vary although it might be as rich as
the rains were previously but their frequency and timing might be more difficult for human economy.
There have been large dry areas but in the other area the heavy rains are continuing days and weeks. It
is not uncommon to get double precipitation within one month and precipitation which would be
average precipitation in the same location rain
The availability of water is of course the major issue for many people. Water quality is another
important question. Enteric microbiological agents can be destroyed if we first know the risks and we
have today better and better methods to study these organisms.
The low quality of water is not only cause by natural and human “normal” activity in spite of good
promises of Millennium Development Goals which should be valid already in 2015. In addition the
wars and other conflicts with true terrorism are also reasons for water problems met by too many
people.
The problems dealing with the availability of water as well the flooding are discussed in this book.
Increasing difficulties to get safe water force the scientist to study these questions and partly these
questions as well as the moral questions are discussed in these papers produced by students
participating to the course of Advances Studies in Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology at
the University of Eastern Finland. I thank students for their contributions to this book.
Kuopio 2013 June 7th Helvi Heinonen-Tanski
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World’s Water Problem
Sanjeeb Saha
Department of Environmental Science, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland,
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
Fifty years ago there were not so many people as the world has today. The competition for scarce water
resources in many places was not intense and the pressure they inflicted on the ecosystem was lower.
But today, we are consuming more calories, eating more meat and thus require more water to produce
our food. Many river basins or aquifers do not have enough water to meet all the demands or
sometimes many of those run dry and cannot reach to the sea for part of the year. The lack of water is
thus a constraint to meeting demands for hundreds of millions of people. The pollution and depletion of
rivers and groundwater will continue. But there is still potential in many areas for highly productive
pro-poor groundwater use, for example, the lower Gangetic plains and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Big
changes in the policy agenda for water management are required to meet the Millennium Development
Goals for poverty, hunger, and a sustainable environment. That agenda must be grounded in the reality
that ensuring food and water security and protecting ecosystems are vital to human survival and must
be achieved in harmony.
Keywords: water, scarcity
Introduction
Water, it is life’s most basic need, but there is a water crisis in our world right now. Seriously, a crisis!
Nearly 1 billion of people live without clean drinking water; it’s happening all over the world,
especially in developing areas of sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America and also in
poor areas in Europe. It’s a water crisis because it starts with water. Water affects everything education, health, poverty and specially women and children. Let’s look at a family caught in the water
crisis. It’s likely that they live on less than one dollar a day. When they are thirsty, they cannot just turn
on the faucet for a nice cold glass of water. They don’t have any faucet, instead the women and
children go after collect water, many walk up to three hours a day to the nearest swamp, pond or river
to gather water that conceding out in the open, exposed to all kinds of germs.
Time spent gathering water is the time that they cannot spend learning to read, write, earning income or
take care of their family. Some women in sub-Saharan Africa spend more time collecting water than
any other daily activity. The walk is not just hard, it’s also dangerous. The women are alone and
burdened with 20 kilograms of water, many get hurt, and sometimes they are even attacked. When they
come home, the little amount of water they have collected is not clean. Some families know that their
water is contaminated with germs which can cause diarrhoea, dehydration even death. Kids especially
babies are affected most by these germs. About every 19 seconds a mother loses one of her children to
water related illness and each day almost a billion people are living this situation.
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What choice do they have? We are at the crisis point; we still have the time to turn this around. We
have to ensure the water is not treated as a commodity and we must recognize ‘access to clean water’
as a basic human right. Clean water means less disease, that’s less money spent on medicine which
means more money for books and school uniforms. If the water problem is solved it can increase the
attendance in schools especially among the young girls. By protecting water, we can protect ourselves
and this blue planet for future generations.
Water Availability
The water cycle or hydrologic cycle differs from most other nutrient cycles and that water usually
remains chemically unchanged throughout the cycle. The water cycle driven is by solar energy which
causes water to evaporate into the atmosphere and it is driven also by gravity which draws the water
back to the earth in the form of precipitation, rain, snow and dew. Most of the evaporation of water
occurs over the oceans and much of this water simply returns to the oceans as precipitation. Water that
does fall on the land takes a variety of pass. A percentage returns to the atmosphere as the result of
evaporation from lakes and streams and the land itself. Surface runoff will find its way back to the
oceans as return flow, while small amount enters underground reservoirs called aquifers. The rest is
taken up by living organisms most of which are about 70% water. Much of the water absorbed by
plants is returned to the atmosphere as a result of evaporation from their leaves. A small amount of the
absorbed water is combined with CO2 during photosynthesis to produce high energy molecules like
glucose. Eventually these high energy molecules are broken down during cellular respiration and water
and CO2 they contain released back into the atmosphere. Herbivores, carnivores and other heterotrophs
acquire water from their food and by drinking it where they can find it. Like plants, heterotrophs return
much of the water they acquire back to the atmosphere through cellular respiration and evaporation.
Although the hydrologic cycle would continue also the absence of life on earth, the distribution of life
and the composition of biological communities depend on and to a great extent are to determine by the
patterns of precipitation and evaporation that exists on our planet. For example, the hydrologic cycle
differs considerably in deserts and rain forests and this is reflected in the composition of their
respective living communities. In deserts a lack of water limits biological productivity while in rain
forest, water is abundant, biological productivity is much higher. Humans share the Earth with other
creatures who also need water; therefore, a water shortage is also a crisis for wildlife.
Water covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface, so it would seem that finding water is a trivial task.
Approximately 97% of all water on our planet is in the oceans. Although water is one of the most
common resources on the planet, only 2.5% of it is fresh and can actually be consumed, and the rest is
salt water. Of that 2.5%, nearly 70% is frozen in glaciers and in the ice of Antarctica and Greenland,
30% is groundwater, less than 0.5% is surface water (lakes, rivers, etc.) and less than 0.05% is in the
atmosphere (Table 1). Globally, 505,000 cubic kilometers of renewable fresh water shifts from the sea
to the land every year as rain or snow via the hydrological cycle; but only 47,000 cubic kilometers per
year can be considered accessible for human use (Gleick, 2000). What is available is now increasingly
coming under pressure from several directions at once. Only a fraction of the world's water is liquid
freshwater, and it is increasingly the subject of conflict and strife as it becomes less available.
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Water Shortage
Water scarcity occurs when the demand for water from all sectors (agriculture, cities, environment etc.)
is higher than the available resource. Because water has been relatively abundant throughout our
existence on earth, we have come to take it for granted. However we now find our water supplies
severely reduced as water scarcity is fast becoming one of the most serious resource issues we
facetoday. Abramovitz estimates that the amount of fresh water withdrawn for human uses has risen
nearly 40-fold in the past 300 years, with over half of the increase coming since 1950 (Abramovitz,
1996).
Table 1: One estimate of global water distribution (Abramovitz, 1996).
Water source
Oceans, Seas, & Bays
Ice caps, Glaciers, &
Permanent Snow
Groundwater
Fresh
Saline
Soil Moisture
Ground Ice & Permafrost
Lakes
Fresh
Saline
Atmosphere
Swamp Water
Rivers
Biological Water
Water volume, in cubic
kilometers
1,338,000,000
24,060,000
23,400,000
10,530,000
12,870,000
16,500
300,000
176,400
91,000
85,400
12,900
11,470
2,120
1,120
Percent of
freshwater
-68.6
Percent of
total water
96.54
1.74
-30.1
-0.05
0.86
-0.26
-0.04
0.03
0.006
0.003
1.69
0.76
0.93
0.001
0.022
0.013
0.007
0.007
0.001
0.0008
0.0002
0.0001
Currently, one third of the world population lives in countries where there is not enough water or its
quality has been compromised. But by 2025 it is expected to rise to two-thirds of the whole population.
There are two types of water scarcity. One is known as Physical Water Scarcity, this occurs when there
is not enough water to meet our needs. Arid regions are generally associated with physical water
scarcity. Physical water scarcity occurs in Mexico, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Tanzania and Swaziland. Today South Africa, Peru, Ukraine, Turkey, Iraq,
Iran, Syria, Madagascar, China, India are fast approaching physical water scarcity. The other type of
water scarcity is known as economic Water Scarcity which occurs when human, institutional and
financial capital limit access to water even though water in nature is available for human needs.
Economic water scarcity occurs in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria,
Congo, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Uganda,
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Rwanda etc. Poor households in developing countries spend higher portions of their income on water
than families in industrialized nations.
According to Schram, 1999, a country is considered "water stressed" when annual water supplies drop
below 1,700 m3 per person (Table 2). When annual water supplies will drop below 1,000 m3 per
person, the country is said to face water scarcity. Water scarce countries face severe constraints on food
production, economic development, and protection of natural ecosystems. Nearly all Arab countries
can be characterized as water-scarce, with consumption of water significantly exceeding total
renewable water supplies.
Table 2. Index of water per capita (Schram, 1999)
Renewable freshwater per capita (m3/ year)
> 1700
1000 – 1700
1000 – 500
<500
Effects on country
Limited stress
Water stressed
Water scarce
Absolute scarcity
More than 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa currently live on less than 1,000 m3 of renewable
fresh water per person per year. In contrast, Canada, North America and Europe, are well endowed
with renewable fresh water resources. The United States have about 13,401 m3 per year while Europe
has almost 4,741 m3 of water resources per person (FAO, AQUASTAT 2013) Table 3.
Table 3. Water Availability by some regions (FAO, AQUASTAT, 2013).
Region
Arab world
Sub -Saharan Africa
Caribbean
Asia –Pacific
Europe
Latin America
North America (includes Mexico)
Average Water Availability (m3 / person)
500
1,000
2,466
2,970
4,741
7,200
13,401
Causes of water problems
Uneven distribution
Globally, water supplies are abundant, but the supply of fresh water is very unevenly distributed across
the planet. Fewer than 10 countries possess 60% of the world’s available fresh water supply: Brazil,
Russia, China, Canada, Indonesia, U.S.A, India, Columbia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some regions have more lakes and rivers and get regular rain, while others are mostly desert and suffer
years of drought. For example, the Atacama Desert in Chile, the driest place on earth, receives almost
no rainfall in each year. On the other hand, Mawsynram, Assam, India receives over 1150 cm annually.
Factors controlling the distribution of rainfall over the earth's surface are the belts of converging an
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ascending air flow, air temperature, moisture -bearing winds, ocean currents, distance inland from the
coast, and mountain ranges. For example, the windward slopes of mountain ranges generally receive
heavy rainfall while the leeward slopes receive almost no rain. The southwest coast of Chile, the west
coast of Canada, and the northwest coast of the United States Rocky Mountains receive much rain
because they are struck by the moisture-bearing westerlies from the Pacific and are backed by
mountains that force the winds to rise and drop their moisture. Helweg (2000) states that a feature of
semi-arid areas is that precipitation comes all at once and is highly variable; it means that water may be
available but not at the right time or place. While North America has the most fresh water available (at
over 19,000 cubic meters per capita as estimated in 1990), Asia has only 4,700 cubic meters of fresh
water per capita (Population Reference Bureau, 1998). If all the freshwater on the planet were divided
equally among the global population, there would be 5,000 to 6,000 m3 of water available for everyone,
every year (Vörösmarty 2000).
Population problem
Population growth, economic development, pollution and climate change, all accelerating, are likely to
combine to produce a drastic decline in water supply in the coming decades. In developing countries,
water withdrawals are rising more rapidly by 4 to 8 % a year for the past decade also because of rapid
population growth and increasing demand per capita (Marcoux, 1994). It took hundreds or thousands of
years for the world population to hit one billion. In comparison, it took only 123 more years to reach
two billion and nearly 33 years to hit 3 billion. Currently the world population increases by one billion
people every thirteen years shown in the Fig 1 (Source: United Nations World Population Prospects,
Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung).
Fig 1 Number of people living worldwide since 1700 in billions (United Nations World Population
Prospects)
Every second, an average of 4.2 people are born and 1.8 people die and thus a net gain is 2.4 people per
second. Today the population total is more than 7 billion, and by 2025 it is estimated to reach 8 billion
and by 2050, there will be 2.5 billion more people on earth than the our today. That’s an increase equal
to the entire world population in 1950.
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The world's population is growing at a rate of 80 million people each year. Sandra Postel, author of the
1998 book, Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity predicts big water availability problems as populations
of so called “water stressed” countries jump perhaps six fold over the next 30 years. The two fastest
growing areas are Africa (growing rate 2.6%) and the Middle East (growing rate 2.2%). If the
population continues to increase at its current rate, we will not be able to maintain or raise the global
standard of living without risking the destruction of the environment. Shiklomanov (2000) states that
due to rapid global population growth between 1970 and 1994, the potential water availability for the
earth’s population decreased from 12900 to 7600 m3 per year per person. With the population of these
sub-tropical regions increasing, water resources are likely to become more stressed in these areas,
especially as climate change intensifies. With a combined population of close to three billion in 48
countries will not have access to clean drinking water by 2025. The number of ‘water scarce’ or ‘water
stressed’ countries will grow from 31 countries with about half a billion people in 1995 to 54 countries
with 4 billion people by 2050 (Hinrichsen, 1999) shown in the Table 4.
Table 4. Number of countries and population facing water scarcity or stressing problem in different
times (Hinrichsen, 1999).
Year
Number of population
Number of countries
1995
1.6
31
2025
2.8
48
2050
4
54
The demand for fresh water increases as the population size increases but there is only so much fresh
water on earth. Between 1900 and 1995, for example, global water withdrawals increased by over six
times more than double the rate of population growth (Gleick, 1998). By 2025, it is estimated that more
than one in three people will be affected by water shortages. It is estimated that over one billion people,
or about one - sixth of the world's population, does not have access to fresh water; of these one billion,
the vast majority are living in developing nations. In more than one out of every two developing
countries the population has been growing faster than its food supplies. To beat the projected
population in 2025, we will have to double food production at the current levels. Even if we are able to
double our food production, it won’t come without a cost.
Agriculture
Agriculture adds another fierce pressure. Globally, the agricultural sector consumes about 70% of the
planet's accessible freshwater, more than twice that of industry (23%), and dwarfing municipal use
(8%) (Rain Bird Corporation, 2003). In industrialized nations, however, industries consume more than
half of the water available for human use. United Kingdom, for example, uses 80% of the water
available for industry. These numbers, however, are distorted by the few countries such as China
(68%), India (89%), and the United States (41%) have very high water withdrawals for agriculture
purposes. A breakdown of water withdrawal by three major sectors (agricultural, industrial and
domestic) and region is shown in Figure 2.
What we eat and how we grow our food is a key to water crisis. Without water we cannot grow food.
For example, it takes about 1400 litres of irrigation water for 1 kg of corn, 4700 litres for rice and 17
000 litres for cotton (Ritschard, 1978). Today 40 % of our food supply comes from irrigated land,
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which now plays a disproportionately large role in the world food economy. Irrigation is extremely
water intensive. Agriculture claims more than two thirds of all the fresh water withdrawn from the
earth. Not all of this water is actually used on farms, however, since a significant portion is lost in
transit, or returns to the ecosystem as runoff from fields, or by trickling down through the soil to
replenish underground water sources. If the returned water is polluted by pesticides, fertilizers or
sediments, then it is unfit for other uses and, it affects the quantity of water available for human uses.
Water tables are falling in several of the world's key farming regions such as the North China Plain,
which produces nearly one third of China's grain harvest; the Punjab, which is India's breadbasket; and
the U.S. southern Great Plains, a leading grain - producing region. Water mining is taking place
at twice the rate of natural recharge for irrigation and other purposes, causing water tables in those
regions to drop by 3 to 10 feet per year. A similar situation exists in China where the aquifer under the
North China plain, which produces 40 percent of China’s grain harvest, is falling by 4 to 5 feet per
year. This enormous shift from sustainable water use to over mining began when farmers changed from
having oxen withdraw the water from a well, to using electric or diesel - driven motors. It’s unclear
when many of these aquifers will be completely emptied. Once they’re gone, it would take thousands
of years to refill them. So the challenge now is to improve agricultural productivity without using more
water, to achieve more crops per drop. Again, this means protecting our waterways, keeping our forests
healthy and improving the way in which we irrigate crops and manage livestock.
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Russia 76.68 Km3/Yr
63
19
Mexico 78.22 Km3/Yr
77
5
17
3
United Kingdom 11.75
Km3/Yr
75
22
41
United States 477 Km3/Yr
46
13
India 645.84 Km3/Yr
5
China 549.76 Km3/Yr
89
8
68
26
7
12
Canada 44.72 Km3/Yr
59
20
0
20
Agriculture
40
Industrial
Fig 2. World water withdrawal by sectors (Gleick, 2008).
60
Domestic
80
100
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Climate change
Our world is changing, every day we see or hear some proof of that in the news or in our own living
environment. This global change also has an impact on our ground water or open fresh water. As the
earth slowly warms sea levels are expected to rise and sea water may leak into aquifers in coastal areas
and deltas worldwide threatening fresh water ground water resources with salinization. Extraction of
fresh ground water in these regions strongly enhances this process. Given the recent estimate that in the
year 2025 no less than 75% of the world’s population will live in coastal areas and deltas - the
worldwide challenge is evident. Climate change can result in an increased intensity in precipitation,
causing greater peak runoffs but less groundwater recharge. Climate change is expected to result in
different rain patterns and quantities which in some areas may have major consequences for crop
production. Rising sea levels will have serious effects on coastal aquifers, which supply substantial
water to many cities and other users (IPCC, 2008). Also receding glaciers, melting permafrost and
changes in precipitation from snow to rain are likely to affect seasonal flows. We will have to adapt to
these change and conditions. More rainfall does not necessarily cause a problem, however in many
areas where rain fed agriculture is currently a common practice. Droughts may result in a mismatch
between the water demand of crops and water provided by rain. To prevent the loss of harvest, this
mismatch needs to be compensated artificially by irrigation, for example, by using ground water.
Global change is not just only climate change, human behaviour also has its impact. It’s about an
increase in world population with a hopefully improve in living standard. Global consumption
increases and stresses natural resources like ground water. People are migrating to mega cities to find
better opportunities. In over populated areas ground water is threatened almost by definition. For
instance, in past of the densely populated Eastern Chinese plains ground water levels have dropped no
less than 40 meters over the last few decades. In Mexico City, ground water level declined has caused
and still causes land subsidence resulting in widespread damage to houses and infrastructures. In some
areas of Yemen intensive exportation of ground water has triggered the needs for periodic deepening of
wells which is ruining the rural economies and made ground water unaffordable for poor farmers.
Stopping these negative consequences of current intensive ground water use and fostering future
ground water needs reductions in a formidable global challenge indeed.
Water is vital to life and one of the world’s most precious resources. Climate change in temperature
rise is affecting supply and facing extra stresses on ecosystem as droughts and floods become more
frequent and water scarcity is a global problem that ultimately threatens food security and health.
Increased intensity in rainfall, melting glacial ice and large scale deforestation are already increasing
soil erosion and depriving the topsoil of nutrients. Climate change will influence the hydrological
cycle. We expect in future that the present wetter areas will be probably wetter and drier areas are
going to get drier. Current predictions vary but scientists believe that within the next century as
temperature increase, the two billion people already living with scarce water supplies is set to triple
reference. Water supply and rainfall are assumed to become more sporadic. The global picture,
however, is complicated and uneven, with different regions, river basins and localities being affected in
different degrees and in a variety of ways. In hotter areas like Africa, ground water stores will decrease
and drought will become common place. In low land and coastal areas such as Bangladesh flooding
and extreme weather events will become more common. Heavy rainfall and flooding can damage crops
and increase soil erosion and delay planting. Additionally, areas that experience more frequent
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droughts will have less water available for crops and livestock. Changes to the proper functioning of
ecosystems will increase the loss of biodiversity and damage ecosystem services.
Climate change adds an additional element of uncertainty to the availability of water resources. With
prospects of changing precipitation patterns, some parts of Europe are expected to have more and
others less freshwater available in the future. Faced with increasing demand and climate change, many
users including nature will struggle to meet their water needs. China is at risk from heavy rain falls,
heat waves and drought (Wei et al., 2009. Zhai et al., 2005 Su et al., 2008). These extreme events seem
to become more frequent over north-western China and the mid to lower reaches of the Yangtze River,
but less frequent in north-eastern China and the north-western Yangtze River (Su et al., 2008).
Pollution
Water pollution is the introduction of chemical, physical, or biological agents into water which
decrease water quality and have effects on the ecosystem. The effects can be catastrophic, depending
on the chemicals, their concentrations and site of pollution. In developing countries, water pollution is a
big problem. Industry is usually not the major cause of water pollution in developing countries. Often,
lakes and rivers have become polluted by assortment of waste, including untreated or partially treated
municipal sewage, toxic industrial effluents, harmful chemicals, and agricultural activities. Increasing
pollution is shrinking the supply of fresh water available to humanity. Polluted water supplies not only
limit water availability but also put millions at risk of water related diseases. Unsafe or inadequate
water, sanitation, and hygiene cause approximately 3.1 percent of all deaths - over 1.7 million deaths
annually and 3.7 % of disability adjusted life years worldwide (WHO 2002).
During precipitation rainwater dissolves gases such as carbon oxides, sulphur oxides and nitrogen
oxides and forms acids. This causes a change in pH of the precipitation and rain with a lower pH, is
called acid rain. Acid rain has had terrible effects on both freshwater and land ecosystems. If the pH of
a lake or river drops below 4.8, its plants and animals risk death. It can also release heavy metals in the
soil, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, which can then infect water supplies. For the last ten years,
this phenomenon has brought destruction to thousands of lakes and streams in the United States,
Canada, and parts of Europe and it can be carried far away from its origin.
Within the past 50 years, eutrophication has emerged as one of the leading causes of water quality
impairment. Eutrophication is the enrichment of an ecosystem with chemical nutrients, typically
compounds containing nitrogen, phosphorus, or both. An exceeding amount of nutrients can be a
problem in marine habitats such as lakes as it can cause algal blooms. The natural process of
eutrophication is accelerated when inorganic plant nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, enter the
water from sewage and fertilizer runoff. One clear example of agriculturally related inputs is the Lake
Erie basin, where farms (crop and livestock) are estimated to contribute as much nitrogen to the lake as
would the sewage of 20 million people, twice the population of the Lake Erie basin.
Dumping of litter in the sea can cause huge problems. Every day almost two million tons of wastes are
dumped into lakes, rivers, and streams, with one litre of waste water sufficient to pollute about eight
litres of fresh water. At present there is about 12,000 cubic kilometre of polluted fresh water in the
world, and if pollution keeps pace with population growth, the total will reach 18,000 cubic kilometre
by 2050 - almost nine times the amount all countries currently use for irrigation.
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An oil spill is a catastrophic event in the environment which can damage ecosystems, including plants
and animals, and contaminate water for drinking and other purposes. Major oil spills such as the 1991
Persian Gulf oil spill in the Persian Gulf; the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; the 1989 Exxon
Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska and the 1979 Ixtoc I Oil Well in the Gulf of Mexico
etc. all have caused millions of litters of oil to pour into the environment in the last several decades
(Hoch et al., 2010). Most of the oil that pollutes the oceans comes from cities and towns. Together
natural and human sources contribute about 1700 million litres of petroleum to the oceans each
year. This is a severe problem because oil cannot dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge which
suffocates fish, gets caught in the feathers of birds stopping them from flying and also blocks light from
photosynthetic aquatic plants.
Industry and domestic sewage are also leading sources of water pollution. Much of industrial
wastewater which contains asbestos, lead, mercury, nitrates and phosphates is typically returned to its
source in a downgrade condition. Worldwide, it is estimated that Industrial activity releases about 300 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge, and other waste into the world’s waters each
year (UN WWAP Water and Industry). The Yangtze River alone in China is contaminated with 40
million tons of industrial waste and raw sewage every day. Industrial pollutants often alter water
quality, such as temperature, acidity, salinity, or turbidity of receiving waters, leading to altered
ecosystems and higher incidence of water borne diseases. For instance, the water in the Yellow River is
so polluted that it cannot be used even for irrigation.
The World Is Running Out of Fresh Water
There are two principal signs of stress as the demand for fresh water outruns the supply.
Many major rivers and lakes in the world for example, the Colorado in the United States, the Amu
Darya (one of the two rivers feeding the Aral Sea) in Central Asia, and the Yellow in China are so over
used that run dry for part of the year. The Yellow river in China first ran dry in 1972 for some 15 days
(Liu and Cheng, 2001). After that this has happen every year since; it has run dry for a longer period of
time. Sometimes the river does not even reach Shandong or there is very little water left in it when it
does reach the sea. In addition, the Himalayan glaciers feed this river but these glaciers are all
disappearing.
The Colorado River, the major river in the southwestern United States, now rarely reaches it to the Gulf
of California. As the demand for water increased over the years, diversions from the rivers have risen
to where they now routinely drain it dry. The Nile River in Egypt also has less water left in it when it
reaches the Mediterranean. Lake Chad is one of Africa’s largest freshwater lakes has shrunk
dramatically over the last four decades. Reduced rainfall, higher temperatures, and as well as the
continuous diversion of water from the rivers that feed the Lake Chad for irrigation are responsible to
its shrinkage.
Water tables are falling in several key farming regions in every continent. The water table does not get
affected as long as we draw as much water as is replenished by natural process. Groundwater is found
within underground aquifers in the "zone of saturation". Over ˗ pumping of groundwater for irrigation
is mining dry most of the aquifers in the world. The aquifers simply cannot recharge as fast as water is
being pumped out. Excessive extraction for irrigation where groundwater is slowly renewed is the main
cause of the depletion. Aquifer depletion is a new problem. Water tables are falling from the over
pumping of groundwater in large portions of China, India, Iran, Mexico, the Middle East, North Africa,
14
Saudi Arabia, and the United States. For instance, some villages in Eastern Iran have been evacuated
because there is no longer any accessible water. Another sign of water scarcity: Yemen is becoming a
hydrological basket case because of its fast population growth and falling of water tables everywhere
by 2 meters or more a year. In the search for water, the Yemeni government has drilled test wells to a
depth of 2 kilometres but failed to find any water (Christopher, 2009).
There is no river in the world plays a more important economic, social and cultural role in the lives of
millions of people than the Ganges. Emerging from the central Himalayas, the Ganges River flows
through the north Indian planes and finally finds its way to the Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh.
The Ganges River is now utterly polluted due to the discharge of untreated municipal and industrial
wastes, run-off from agricultural fields carrying chemicals and fertilizers, floral offerings, cattle
wallowing, open defecation, animal carcasses, mass bathing, cremation of dead bodies on its bank . The
Ganga is so polluted that the amount of toxins, chemicals and other dangerous bacteria found in the
river are almost 3000 times 'unsafe' suggested by the WHO. The total annual volume of untreated
household, and industrial effluents in the Ganga river basin amounts to 328.9 million kiloliters
(Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt. of India. Statistical Review of Programs under National
River Conservation Directorate, Sept. 1996).
The major polluting contributor of Ganga is leather industries, especially near Kanpur which release
large amount of Chromium and other chemicals and heavy metals. According to Markandya and Murty
(‘Cleaning up the Ganges’, Oxford University Press, 2000, p.1) 1.3 billion litres of sewage, 260 million
litres of industrial waste, surface runoff from 6 million tons of fertilizers and 9000 tons of pesticides
used in agriculture, and large quantities of solid wastes, are daily released into the river . In addition,
dams and barrages constructed for hydropower generation in the upper reaches and canal irrigation,
combined with deforestation, mining and civil constructions in the catchments have sapped much of its
ability to flow. A barrage has been built by the Indian government just before the Ganges enters
Bangladesh in order to keep the port of Calcutta open during summer. As a result, south-western parts
of Bangladesh are gradually turning into a desert.
Solutions to Water Problem
First of all, there is no magic wand, no flip of the switch that is going to suddenly stop water scarcity.
There are some concrete ways to turn the tide against water shortages. We should lower the levels of
unnecessary consumption such as opening the tap when brushing our teeth or buying unnecessary
goods, as everything produced needs water, in developed countries and find sustainable solutions to
meet increasing demands on food, water, fuel, and other basic resources.
The agriculture sector must find more effective ways to irrigate farmlands. Knowing that agriculture
uses less than 10% of the world’s total rainfall is not much help to grow sufficient food in water
stressed areas. Therefore improving water productivity or water use efficiency is vital. Improving water
use efficiency is likely to lead to a range of benefits including maintaining or increasing production
from existing or less amounts of water, expanding irrigated areas and reducing river diversions. It can
also minimize the movement of pesticides, nutrients and salt to downstream. On the other hand,
globally, drought causes more yield losses than any other single biotic or abiotic factor. Therefore,
development of drought tolerant varieties is crucial to improving the productivity and sustainability of
agricultural crops in the world.
15
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation, human dignity cannot survive it, convenience and decency
cannot survive it, as we put more and more people onto the world, the value of life not only declines, it
disappears. As Martin Luther King Jr. said "Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases
we do not understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered
and with resources we possess. What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal
consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victim." We
should provide educational opportunities for girls; economic opportunities for women and universal
access to family planning services, contraceptives and information. We need to empower women and
give them access to healthcare and birth control. Women should have the right to control the size of
their families. Such efforts, pursued consistently, can delay the onset of water stress and scarcity in
many countries.
Governments should pass the laws to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, but it is no use unless
action is stepped up in stopping the release of these pollutants. If the acid rain damages our ecosystem,
eventually it will destroy us as well.
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection of rainwater directly from the surface(s) it falls on. It is
an effective water conservation tool that has been adopted in many areas of the world where there are
one or two wet seasons per year. It also proves more beneficial when coupled with the use of native and
low -water -use and desert -adapted plants. Once collected and stored, it can be used for non -potable
purposes. For example, in Uganda and Sri Lanka, rainwater is collected from trees, using banana
leaves or stems as temporary gutters; up to 200 litres may be collected from a large tree in a single
storm. Gould et al., 1999, in their recent book, point out that the Australian government have given the
all clear for the consumption of rainwater ‘provided the rainwater is clear, has little taste or smell, and
is from a well -maintained system’. RWH systems can reduce demand for mains water which means
less water is taken from lakes, rivers and aquifers and more is left to benefit ecosystems.
Ocean water desalination - a process that converts seawater into drinking water is being held forth as a
promising solution to the problem. However, desalination is not flawless itself. It is generally regarded
as too expensive and a speculative supply option which requires enormous amounts of energy to run
the process. Even after the water has been purified there's the remaining challenge of what to do with
the leftover salt. Discharging the resulting brine back into coastal environments could endanger marine
life because some marine organisms are sensitive to salinity changes. Critics point out that alternatives
like wastewater recycling can be a more effective method of supplying fresh water in many regions,
while desalination remains the last resort in droughts affected areas.
Domestic and industrial wastewater must be treated to specified standards before being discharged into
a sewer or watercourse. Additionally, installation of a pH monitoring and shut - off control system is
required to prevent the discharge of acidic effluent from industries into the public sewer. Grey Water
Recycling System can be another solution which reduce the mains water consumption. Gray water is
relatively clean reusable wastewater from residential, commercial and industrial bathroom sinks, bath
tub shower drains, and clothes washing equipment drains. When grey water is recycled the water is
reused onsite for secondary water supplies, typically for landscape irrigation, toilet flushing, irrigation,
certain process water, cleaning, car washes etc. Usually, water use will be reduced by about 50%.
Furthermore, recycled water for landscape irrigation, for example, requires less treatment than recycled
water for drinking water. In other words, water reuse saves water, energy, and money.
16
We must eliminate subsidies that can keep water prices artificially low and raise the prices of water to
the point where people will reduce mining or using of fresh water to a sustainable level. If there’s an
incentive to grow more of one crop which requires a huge amount of irrigated water, farmers will
produce more, which can in turn result in water depletion. Without these subsidies elimination, there
may not be a humane solution to the emerging world water shortage/ scarcity.
Conclusions
To make matters worse, water is being threatened by pollution, over population, climate change,
mismanagement and war. Pollution is so severe that diseases are increasing in both humans and
animals, habitats are being destroyed, and rain is turning into acid, so many chemicals flow into rivers
and lakes that the actual composition of water in some places has been fundamentally changed. Human
encroachment is also drying out aquifers, diverting the natural flow of rivers and straining water
supplies, hidden in everyday consumption is the careless and unnecessary waste of water. Massive
dams displace millions of people and destroy whole ecosystems. Global warming is altering the water
cycle causing more severe in unpredictable flooding and droughts ultimately shifting where water
flows. Unregulated corporate privatization threatens access to water for the poor or some governments
fail to deliver water where it is needed most. These stresses will intensify conflicts between states.
Ultimately humanity is poisoning, squandering and overburdening water resources. The result is the
billions of people lack access to clean drinking water. Millions of children die every year from
preventable water borne diseases. Lack of clean water and basic sanitation traps people in poverty.
What can we do? We can’t end droughts or replenish low groundwater levels the way it is now, but by
working together we can plan for the future and determine how to handle these challenges. It largely
depends on how well each country deals with too little or too much water in the future.
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19
Deliberate release of biological material into drinking water systems –
decontamination aspects
Tuuli I. Haataja
The Defence Forces Technical Research Centre, Explosives and CBRN Protection Technology
Division. P. O. Box 5, 34111 Lakiala, Finland. [email protected]
Abstract
Drinking water distribution systems are vulnerable to deliberate external contamination with biological
material, bioterrorism. Such an incident could potentially have major public health, economical and
psycho-social consequences to the affected areas and their population. Pathogens and toxins proposed
as potential bioterrorism agents range from sophisticated engineered preparations to a crude mixture of
sewage sludge. Bacterial spores are a specific problem for drinking water distribution system
remediation efforts due to their high persistence and resistance towards chemical decontamination
agents.
From remediation and decontamination point of view, the key differences between an incident of
accidental origin or natural causes and a deliberate attack remain in the need for higher margin of
safety in assessing decontamination result and the possible need to store or further treat large quantities
of waste water or sludge after its removal from the pipe network. Large-scale sludge treatment or
temporary storage would require facilities or equipment beyond standard preparedness, prolonging the
time required to remediate the system and return the water distribution network operation. Recent
approaches targeted at biothreat agent inactivation from deliberately contaminated drinking water
distribution systems are discussed.
Keywords: Bioterrorism, CBRN protection, decontamination, drinking water, infrastructure
vulnerability, water security
1. Introduction
Although biological agents have been used in warfare from antiquity to the present, the intentional use
of biological agents against the civilian population - in particular as preparations cultivated and isolated
specifically for this purpose - by individuals, groups or states is a more recent phenomenon arising both
from the increased knowledge concerning these, and the availability of information and equipment. The
past ten years have seen the activity regarding safeguarding against a bioterrorism attack increasing
across the globe. To a significant extent, this development has been due to the anthrax bioterrorism
events in US in 2001 in which preparations of Bacillus anthracis spores were delivered inside letters
(Traeger et al., 2002), resulting in several casualties, large-scale contamination of buildings and
infrastructure, and enormous economical and psycho-social impact.
Awareness regarding the effects of terrorism that would be targeted against drinking water distribution
systems has consequently increased over the past decade. Scenarios considered typical for a terrorist
attack on domestic water supplies involve introducing a chemical or biological agent into local water
supplies or damaging the basic infrastructure such as pipelines or treatment plants with conventional
explosives (Gleick, 2006). The severity of the consequences and the number of casualties resulting
20
from such an attack would depend on several factors. These include the characteristics and amount of
pathogen or poisonous compound delivered to the population as well as individual differences in
tolerance to these, the system and methods used for water treatment at the location, speed of the
contamination discovery, and finally the success of the response taken by local authorities such as
informing the public, switching to alternative water sources, and remediation of the distribution system.
Considering deliberate dissemination of pathogens or toxins through the water supply, drinking water
could become contaminated at the water source, during the treatment process, in the distribution
network on its way from the water utility to the end user, and in possible storage containers (Khan et
al., 2001). There are several factors ranging from the stability of the pathogens in water to their
availability and production issues that make the dissemination of biological agents through drinking
water less straightforward to a terrorist than it might seem. Despite these, the prevention and
management of water terrorism incidents remains a complex subject with many unanswered questions.
Knowledge and technology gaps exist in all levels of response chain; society and the industry, from
regulatory agencies to national authorities and water treatment facilities. One thing is certain – natural
outbreaks resulting from the contamination of water supplies show us how large an impact such an
event has on the modern society. It can therefore be concluded that drinking water distribution systems
remain vulnerable also to deliberate external contamination with biological material.
This paper seeks to review and discuss available information within the context of intentional
contamination of a water distribution network with biological material, and the key differences that
separate the natural contamination incidents from deliberate dissemination events. Current research
approaches and challenges associated with the decontamination following such incident will be
presented. The focus will be on two important problems – the persistence of bacterial spores and their
resistance towards chemical disinfection agents, and the challenges in treating the removed biofilms
and resulting sludge in situ, or after its removal from the pipe network.
1.1 Potential biothreat agents
Many different bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens and toxins produced by living organisms can be
regarded as potential agents of bioterrorism. Over the years, researchers, governmental organizations
and national authorities have composed Select Agent lists of most potential of these, based on the ease
of transmission, severity of the associated morbidity and mortality, and the potential for mass
production. There are f.i. the list of the Australia Group (AG, 2013), the select list of US Centre for
Disease Control (CDC, 2013), and the disease categorization list of the European Medicines Agency
(EMA, 2013). Conventional speculations on the use of biological warfare agents typically include
scenarios in which a sophisticated aerosolized formulation is distributed via ammunition, airplane
spraying, or some other vehicle-mounted dispersal method. However, the anthrax letter incidents in US
(Traeger et al., 2002) provided evidence that even a relatively simple delivery method can cause
casualties and damage to the infrastructure as well as widespread alarm among the public.
When these agents are inspected in the context of intentional dissemination through the drinking water
supply, it can be realized that the threat potential of an agent is depended on different factors than when
aerosolized or other distribution methods are considered. First is the agents’ ability to survive in
drinking water conditions and drinking water production processes. Many pathogens will not survive in
water for prolonged periods, and many pathogens are also efficiently inactivated by the water treatment
21
methods such as chlorination, ultraviolet radiation, ozonization and filtration that are used during water
production processes to make water potable for human use (Rose et al., 2005; Rose et al., 2007).
Table 1. A list of select agents and their characteristics related to water terrorism. Modified from Khan
et al., 2001 and Gleick, 2006.
Agent
Water threat
Stability in water
Chlorine tolerance*
Bacillus anthracis
Yes
2 years (spores)
Spores resistant
Inactivated 2 log10, 1 ppm 10
min (Rose et al., 2005)
Resistant
Inactivated 1 ppm -5 min
Inactivated 2 log10, 1 ppm 10
min (Rose et al., 2005)
Inactivated 2 log10, 1 ppm 10
min (Rose et al., 2005)
Inactivated 0.5 ppm - 10 min
Easily killed
Inactivated
Inactivated 2 log10, 1 ppm 10
min (Rose et al., 2005)
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Brucella spp.
Probable
Clostridium perfringens Probable
Francisella tularensis
Yes
20-72 days
Common in sewage
Up to 90 days
Burkholderia mallei
Burkholderia
pseudomallei
Shigella spp.
Vibrio cholerae
Salmonella spp.
Unlikely
Up to 30 days
Unlikely
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unknown
2-3 days
Survives well
8 days, fresh water
Yersinia pestis
Coxiella burnetii
Ricettsia spp.
Chlamydia psittaci
Alphaviruses
Filoviruses,
arenaviruses,
bunyaviruses,
Flaviviruses
Variola
Hepatitis A
Yes
Possible
Unlikely
Possible
Unlikely
16 days
Unknown
Unknown
18-24 hours, seawater
Unknown
Unlikely
Possible
Yes
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Cryptosporidium spp.
Botulinum toxins
T2 mycotoxins
Aflatoxin
Ricin
Staphylococcal
enterotoxins
Microcystins
Anatoxin A
Tetrodotoxin
Saxitoxin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Stable weeks or more
Stable
Stable
Probably stable
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Inactivated 0.4 ppm - 30 min
Oocysts resistant - killed by
720 ppm for 10 min
Inactivated 0.6 ppm - 20 min
Resistant
Resistant
Resistant at 10 ppm
Yes
Yes
Probable
Yes
Yes
Probably stable
Probably stable
Inactivated in days
Unknown
Stable
Unknown
Resistant at 100 ppm
Unknown
Inactivated at 0.5 ppm
Resistant at 10 ppm
*Inactivated at ambient temperature, 1 ppm free available chlorine, 30 minutes or as indicated
22
Select agents as waterborne terrorist threats have been discussed by Khan et al. (2001) and Gleick
(2006). A list of select agents and their characteristics related to water terrorism is presented in Table 1.
Recent work on select agents have also provided insight on how the select biothreat bacterial and viral
agents are inactivated by disinfectant residuals at concentrations and conditions found in typical
drinking water in distribution systems (Rose et al., 2005; 2007, O’Connell et al., 2009). After an
incident, protection of public health from pathogenic contamination in the distribution system is
provided by the maintenance of a disinfectant residual. However, these residuals can vary significantly
throughout a drinking water distribution system, with some areas of the network offering reduced or
only minimal protection (Helbling and VanBriesen, 2008). In addition, untreated water such as bottled
water of well water offers no protection against intentional contamination.
To be a water terrorism threat, the agent would also have to be toxic or infective enough to cause
illness or death in the target population. This is well true to these select agents, each of whom possesses
highly toxic qualities or potential for severe infection. Even though the primary threat from pathogens
in drinking water comes from ingestion, water used for showering or bathing might also cause
cutaneous as well as aerosol exposure hazards. In addition, for many microorganisms, a lower inherent
pathogenicity might be compensated for by increasing the amount of infective inoculum. However,
toxin preparations used in water bioterrorism would have to overcome the same inactivation factors by
disinfectants and treatment as the bacterial and viral agents, as well as dilution in vast water quantities
of typical distribution systems. The dilution taken into account, this limits the effects and possible
scope of intentional toxin dissemination through water only to the most toxic and stable molecules.
Raphael et al. (2012) estimated that a botulinum neurotoxin serotype A concentration of ~30 pg/mL
would represent a potential human health hazard, based on the lowest estimated human lethal dose (70
nanograms) and average daily water intake of 2.3 L. The threat from less potent agents remains in
small isolated water sources and containers.
The biological preparation used for terrorist purposes would also have to be available for dissemination
in sufficient quantities to overcome these dilution and inactivation effects of time and environment.
Substantial regulatory restrictions have been placed on the access to, as well as possession and
distribution of organisms on select agent lists (Casadevall and Relman, 2010), although many of them
could also be recovered from the environment or endemic regions. Cultivating a highly virulent
pathogen in large quantities needs in most cases specialized skills and equipment, and obtaining those
increases the likelihood of the illegal activity to be discovered. Again, toxins have inherent limitations
to their manufacture in sufficient quantities as large scale biothreat agents. Mass production of many
select agent list mycotoxins, for example, may be impractical simply because of the quantity of growth
medium required (Paterson, 2005).
1.1.2 Unlisted/other pathogens and biological contaminants
The Select Agent lists provide overview on the pathogens weaponized in the past, posing significant
public health problems or possessing exceptional qualities regarding environmental stability and
infectivity, but considering drinking water safety there is no clear distinction between microorganisms
with and without biothreat potential. Focusing attention on a very limited set of specified
microorganisms currently on these lists may therefore overly limit the perceived threat from non-listed
microorganisms. As a result, the adverse consequences resulting from an intentional effort to
contaminate drinking water distribution systems with sabotage using much lower profile, yet very
23
easily accessible biological material such as wastewater or sewage may end up being underestimated.
Further problems associated with assigning microbes into Select Agent lists and other types of
categories have been debated in depth in a review by Casadevall and Relman (2010).
An example of the economic losses and disruption of normal everyday activities that a contamination
of water supply with very mundane bacteria and viruses could cause is demonstrated by water
contamination events arising from accidents or natural disasters. In recent years, there have been
several large incidents of non-potable to potable water cross-contaminations leading to disease
outbreaks. One of these includes a contamination of a municipality drinking water with partially treated
wastewater in Finland in 2007. Contamination in the municipality center area with little over 9000
inhabitants resulted in more than 8000 reported cases of gastroenteritis – more than a thousand health
center visits and hospitalizations, and a three month boiling water advisory for the public
(Onnettomuustutkintakeskus, 2007). Although these kinds of incidents are not related to terrorism, they
do give some sense of the vulnerability of drinking water distribution systems to similar intentionally
caused contamination events, and the consequences that might follow. The most important lessons that
can be learned from natural contamination events might be ways to deal with a mass effect that
completely overwhelms local services and community health care systems, and the huge economic
footprint they leave.
2 Mitigation of an attack – decontamination perspectives
The way a deliberate release incident of introducing pathogenic biological material to a water supply
would be perceived and handled by the authorities as well as by the public would markedly differ from
water contamination by accidents or natural disasters. Psychological victims of a bioterrorism event are
likely to greatly outnumber the medical casualties - deliberate use of biological agents and terrorism
induces fear and easily results in loss of confidence in the authorities (Gleick, 2006).
From drinking water system decontamination point of view, this means a need for significantly higher
margin of safety and assurance when assessing the decontamination result to regain public trust in the
water supply following a bioterrorism attack. Practical aspects of the decontamination effort can be
learned from natural contamination events – deliberate contamination with ordinary biological material
such as wastewater or sewage would mimic those in all aspects. Main differences of decontamination
efforts related to mitigation of waterborne outbreaks and deliberate attacks arise primarily from the
problems created by some special cases such as contamination of the network with highly persistent
bacterial spores. Also, given the need for be absolutely certain the water distribution system is free
from the introduced pathogen before restoring operation, the availability of tools and methods to verify
the success of decontamination is an issue worth contemplating.
Several proactive approaches intended to decrease the risk of bioterrorism and mitigate the
consequences have been implemented at the European Union level (Gouvras, 2004). Research projects
targeted at specifically assessing the whole concept of bioterrorism threat to drinking water supply have
been started. SecurEau is a research project specifically focusing on security and decontamination of
drinking water distribution systems following a deliberate contamination (SecurEau, 2013). The project
is supported by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme, and its main
objectives include the design of methodologies for contaminants identification, distribution modelling,
sensor systems and distribution system decontamination. Decontamination efforts include the
neutralization of contaminated water and residues. Biotracer IP under the Sixth Framework Programme
24
has the objective to develop methods for tracing the origin of biological agents contaminating food and
feed chains, including when the a result of a criminal act (Knutsson et al., 2011).
2.1 Decontamination methods for select biothreat agents
2.1.1 Bacterial spore contamination – a persistent problem
Several characteristics of B. anthracis make it more problematic than other threat agents considering an
incident of deliberate dissemination of microbes via drinking water supply. Firstly, (i) the spores are
environmentally very resistant, being able to survive in the environment for prolonged times (Sinclair
et al., 2008), secondly (ii) the spores have good tolerance to the levels of chlorine routinely used to
treat drinking water (Rice et al., 2005; Rose et al., 2005; 2007), (iii) ingested B. anthracis is capable of
causing gastrointestinal (GI) tract anthrax with high case-fatality rate (Sirisanthana and Brown, 2002),
and (iv) introduction of live B. anthracis spores or other environmentally persistent pathogens to
previously naive environments such as while flushing the contaminated pipe network would be
ethically unacceptable. This results in the need to treat the contaminated water and possible sludge
generated in the disinfection thoroughly in situ or alternatively, storing them for later inspection and
final treatment. Due to this exceptional hardiness, spores can also be used as a benchmark for studying
decontamination of biothreat agents from drinking water infrastructures, and a decontaminant proven to
be effective in killing such spores in site-specific applications is likely to be effective against all other
biothreat agents as well. Because of restrictions on working with select agents, many works involved
with Bacillus spore inactivation have been conducted using avirulent strains on B. anthracis or closely
related surrogate Bacillus species.
2.1.2 Decontamination of the water body
Chlorination is the most frequently used cleaning method in drinking water distribution networks
whereas monochloramine is the second most common disinfectant (Rose et al., 2007). The primary
reaction in microbial inactivation by free chlorine is thought to involve oxidation of microbial
membranes increasing cell permeability, which results in leakage of macromolecules and cell death; in
addition other events, such as uncoupling of the electron chain or enzyme inactivation either in the
membrane or in the cell interior are involved in the bactericidal mechanism of chlorine (Virto et al.,
2004; Virto et al., 2005). Monochloramine is thought to react with sulfur-containing amino acids and
tryptophan in the bacterial cell wall (Rose et al., 2007). UV-radiation has become more popular as a
water treatment method; in large waterworks, UV-irradiation is usually followed by low dosing of
chlorine, but in small ground waterworks, UV-irradiation is generally the only disinfection method
(Lehtola et al., 2005).
As previously mentioned, several studies have sought information whether select biothreat bacterial
and viral agents are inactivated by free available chlorine (FAC) at concentrations and conditions found
in typical drinking water in distribution systems. Residuals of decontamination chemicals provide
protection to the public, inactivating the contaminants before they reach the consumers. A drawback
regarding the use of UV radiation systems considering a biological contamination incident is that UV
radiation has no residual protective effect in the pipe network. Rose et al. (2005) tested seven species
of bacterial select agents, namely B. anthracis, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Burkholderia mallei,
Brucella suis, Brucella melitensis, Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis, for susceptibility to free
available chlorine.
25
At temperatures of 5°C and 25°C, the FAC routinely adjusted in potable water was sufficient to reduce
six species by 2-log10 (99%) within 10 min. Water contaminated with spores of B. anthracis was found
to require up to two hours to achieve similar inactivation in test conditions. When the same agents were
exposed to preformed monochloramine, the required contact times for 2-log10 inactivation were up to
4.2 hours for vegetative bacteria, and 3.5 days for B. anthracis spores (Rose et al., 2007). These
measurements were conducted at three temperatures representative of a range found within water
distribution systems, 5°C, 15°C, and 25°C, with increasing contact times required for all organisms
observed with decreasing water temperature. O'Connell et al. (2009) performed disinfection studies
with multiple strains of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated from both clinical and environmental
sources and found that 1 mg/L and contact time of 10 min were sufficient to reduce populations of
planktonic B. pseudomallei by 4 orders of magnitude. This study also reported strain-to-strain variation
in chlorine sensitivity of B. pseudomallei. The presence of 1 mg/L free available chlorine has also been
found to reduce the levels of Vaccinia virus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus 6-log10 within 60
minutes in spiked disinfected water samples (Wade et al., 2010).
Work has been carried out also to assess other chemical decontamination methods for their efficacy
against select bacterial and viral biothreat agents. Examples include ozone alone or in sequential
combination with UV-irradiation (Jung et al., 2008), chlorine dioxide (Shams et al., 2011), sodium
dichloro-S-triazinetrione dihydrate [Dichlor], hydrogen peroxide, potassium peroxymonosulfate
[Oxone], sodium hypochlorite, and a commercial peracetic acid product (preparation of Virkon S)
(Raber and Burklund, 2010). Dichlor, sodium hypoclorite and hydrogen peroxide were found to be
highly effective against Bacillus atrophaeus spores with of greater than a 6-log reduction after a 10min exposure time; however solutions of 5% Virkon S and Oxone were less effective as spore
decontaminants, although good efficacy was established for low spore concentrations (102 spores/mL).
Acidification of water has been found to increase ozone decay time by several times compared to decay
time in neutral water and therefore enhance the sterilization efficacy of ozone in water (Uhm et al,.
2009). Water quality parameters such as pH, dissolved organic carbon and temperature will result in
different concentration x contact time values (Ct values) for contaminant inactivation (Dow et al.,
2006).
While the available knowledge on the inactivation of biothreat agents is increasing, to be most useful in
the event of intentional or accidental water contamination the reagents should ideally be process
reagents that are in everyday use and thus readily available in sufficient quantities at the water
facilities. It would make less sense to maintain fresh stockpile of chemicals and equipment only needed
in case of specific events. On the other hand, in case of immediate need any procurement or
transportation of new disinfection chemicals, as well as creating usage instructions would take a
considerable amount of time. It can be therefore perceived that when developing and validating plans
and protocols for decontamination after deliberate release incidents, the best strategies are created
based on existing operations.
2.1.3 Biofilms and their significance in water system decontamination after a bioterrorism incident
Microorganisms, unlike chemicals, are not distributed uniformly in aqueous environments, but most
microbes in drinking water distribution system are present in biofilms inhabiting the inner surfaces of
pipelines (Lehtola et al., 2005). If introduced pathogenic microorganisms become incorporated into a
pre-existing biofilm, they may become more resistant to disinfectants. The efficacy of chemical
26
disinfection agent on biofilms and contaminant organisms harbored there is dependent on the chemical
reactivity and the penetration capability of the disinfectant to the biofilm matrix (Chen and Stewart,
1996; Morrow et al., 2008). The top layers of the biofilm can consume the highly reactive disinfectants
such as free chlorine, reducing the penetration of the disinfectant in the biofilm. Further, biofilms have
been shown to serve as a reservoir for the continual release of potentially pathogenic organisms into the
water column (Gibbs et al., 2004; Douterelo et al., 2013). In the case of intentional contamination of a
water distribution network, the management of biofilms is therefore of critical importance to achieve
the high margin of safety necessary and to ensure complete inactivation and removal of the microbial
or toxin contamination.
Extensive work has been conducted in chemical and physical biofilm control techniques (Gagnon et al.,
2005, Rand et al., 2007), but few works have focused on decontamination of select bacterial and viral
biothreat agents or their surrogates in the larger setup of simulated or actual water systems that harbor
biofilms. Morrow et al. (2008) studied disinfectant susceptibility of B. anthracis and B. thuringiensis
spores in a simulated drinking water system, using both free chlorine and monochloramine for
desinfection. In their study, high concentrations of the desinfectants (103 mg/L free chlorine and 49
mg/L monochloramine) resulted in less than a 2-log10 reduction in viable biofilm associated spores
after 60 min contact time. Biofilm-associated spores were shown to require 5- to 10-fold higher
disinfectant concentrations to observe the same reduction of viable spores as in suspension.
2.2 Effluent management and sludge decontamination
Routinely, pipe flushing is used to remove loose deposits from the pipes. In the case of a bioterrorism
attack with highly persistent, disinfectant-resistant agents such as Bacillus spores, a need to combine
flushing with air scouring or pigging to remove inner corrosion layer and remaining biofilms from the
system can be realized. Flushing alone has shown not to completely remove bacterial biofilm from the
pipe walls (Douterelo et al., 2013).
The presence of large quantities of live B. anthracis spores or other environmentally persistent or novel
pathogens in the pipe network would result in the need to treat the contaminated water and possible
sludge generated in the disinfection in situ, as introducing such agents to previously naive
environments would likely be considered unacceptable. Flushing the pipe network from endpoints
would therefore not be possible. Treatment options for these situations would include (i) recirculation
of the contaminated water and loosened deposits with disinfection agents inside the network for
increased penetration of the decontamination agents throughout the distribution system until complete
inactivation is achieved and confirmed, (ii) directing or transporting the contaminated material in a
specialized treatment facility, or (iii) storing the sludge for later inspection and final treatment.
Information regarding the handling of vast amounts of sludge and water from sludge is very limited.
However, suggestions and solutions for these can be derived from treatment methods suggested for
water contaminated with radioactive isotopes (SecurEau, 2011). These kinds of treatments would again
require facilities, skills and equipment beyond standard preparedness, prolonging the time required to
remediate the system and return the water distribution network operation.
2.3 Spore germinating methods
Spore germination with germinating agents to aid in subsequent spore inactivation by different
chemical disinfectants and other methods has been considered. Szabo et al. (2012) studied germinating
27
Bacillus globigii spores attached to corroded iron and cement-mortar coupons with tryptic soy broth,
and subsequent decontamination with flushing and chlorination in a pilot-scale drinking water system.
Germination before chlorination or flushing was more effective at removing coupon-adhered spores
than chlorination or flushing alone; however, the results also demonstrated that germination was
minimal or non-existent at temperatures below 20oC even in the presence of the germinant.
3 Monitoring and identification – decontamination verification needs
Several chemical and physical water parameters are routinely monitored with on-line instrumentation at
water facilities. These water quality measurements are employed for regulatory compliance, as well as
for the water utility’s process control and system management. Additional security regarding deliberate
biological contamination events could be provided through the use of on-line sensors, with the aim of
detecting events in real-time. Consideration has been given to the use of pathogen-specific tests and
devices for the direct detection of select biothreat agents and in recent years, and a variety of new online monitoring tools based on sensor technologies have emerged for detecting chemical and biological
contaminants in drinking water (Storey et al., 2011; Aw and Rose, 2013).
As the number of potential agents capable of contaminating a drinking water system is high, and water
quality characteristics such as hardness, alkalinity and specific conductance have significant effect on
method performance (Raphael et al., 2012), pathogen-specific sensors with present technology can still
be logistically impractical or cost prohibitive. Surrogate water-quality parameters such as chlorine
residual and chlorine demand have been suggested as indicators of a wider range of contaminants
(Helbling and VanBriesen, 2007; 2008), however this is complicated by the possible very low
concentrations of microorganisms posing a threat through intentional dissemination, versus the higher
concentrations observed in conjunction with natural events. Concentration methods such as filtration
and ultrafiltration (Perez et al., 2005; Raphael et al., 2012) have been suggested for improving select
agent recovery and detection from water samples.
From decontamination point of view, specific detection and identification capacity will be needed when
mitigating a deliberate release to i) identify the contaminated facilities and areas in the distribution
network, ii) to verify complete inactivation of decontaminated waste and material before disposal and
iii) to confirm the decontamination efficacy before resuming network operation. The amount of
environmental samples created by such incident would likely be high, posing throughput problems in
confirmatory microbiological laboratories aimed at verifying agent viability and identity. Depending on
the agent in question, readiness to select agent identification, and the biocontainment requirements
involved, may also limit the scope of available laboratory facilities. Sampling techniques must comply
with the analysis methods to ensure successful analysis and adequate coverage. Experiences from
everyday water facility operations and dealing with unintentional contamination events are not likely to
prepare us for these questions, therefore planning for sampling and analysis capabilities to verify
decontamination success should be included in preparedness plans targeting water distribution network
security.
4. Conclusions
In order to be effective as an instrument for water bioterrorism, a biological agent needs to be stable in
water, maintaining its properties and not be inactivated during water treatment processes and by
residual chemicals while it is transported in the water distribution system. The agent would also have to
28
be toxic or infective enough to cause cases of illness or death in the target population and available for
dissemination in sufficient quantities to overcome the dilution and inactivation effects of time and
environment. Many select bacterial and viral agents considered to be most significant biothreat agents
fulfil all these criteria, however substantial regulatory restrictions limit accessing as well as the
possession and distribution of organisms on select agent lists. Outbreaks resulting from contamination
of water supplies with waste water containing very mundane bacteria and viruses have demonstrated
the high impact of water contamination events for the community and society, highlighting the
vulnerability of drinking water distribution networks also for intentional sabotage with biological
material.
From remediation and decontamination point of view, the key differences between an incident of
accidental origin or natural causes and a deliberate attack are in the need for higher margin of safety
when evaluating the remediation effort success in order to restore public confidence in the event of
contamination of source waters and distribution systems. Contamination of the distribution system with
highly persistent biological agents such as spores may lead to the need for further treat or inactivate
large quantities of waste water or sludge after its removal from the pipe network. In recent years, a lot
of research work has addressed the problem of decontamination after deliberate dissemination of
pathogenic material in drinking water distribution systems. Although new techniques are continually
being developed and validated, most of them are not readily deployable within existing operations as
such. This can be due to the related chemicals not being needed in everyday use as well as due to the
need for specialized instrumentation or equipment. In order to of immediate use in the event of
intentional or accidental water contamination, the reagents must be process reagents that are readily
available in sufficient quantities at the water facilities. Validating the decontamination result will
require specific sampling, detection and identification methods that should be included in preparedness
plans.
Research projects targeted at specifically assessing bioterrorism threat to drinking water supply have
been started worldwide and also at the European Union level. These will provide new insight at
decontamination efforts after bioterrorism incident, including the neutralization of contaminated waste
water and residues. The increase in these kinds of initiatives will increase the ability to the society to
prevent and respond quickly to bioterrorism threats targeted against water distribution systems.
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32
Conservation of tropical water bodies
Joshua Nartey
Department of Environmental Biology, University of Eastern Finland,
1627 F1-70211, Kuopio, Finland, Email: [email protected]
Abstract
A world water crisis is fast developing. Several anthropogenic factors have worked together over the
years to place a major stress on global water bodies. The systematic overuse of lakes or rivers for
hydroelectricity has posed many threats to water bodies. Agriculture and the lack of proper water
governance at the watershed scale have posed similar threats. Also, climate change is predicted to be a
major cause of change across all ecosystems. There are also particular concerns about impacts on
freshwater systems due to the coupling of direct impacts on both hydrology and ecology.
Several phenomena associated with climate change, including extreme weather events such as flooding
and droughts and decreased snow cover are expected to present challenges to the consistent availability
of safe water. Likewise is the altered pattern of precipitation and river runoff. There is an emerging
recognition that conservation of water resources is much easier when an integrated or multiple barrier
approach is adopted. Many nations have now adopted the multiple barrier conceptual framework in
conserving their water ecosystems.
Keywords: Conservation. Climate change. Sustainability. Multiple barrier conceptual framework.
Watershed. Water governance.
Introduction
In general, conservation could be defined as a careful preservation, protection and planned
management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect. Human beings have
different approaches and ethical standards for the conservation of natural resources and nature.
Literature provides us with some main ethical standards on conservation. Adler and Wilkinson (1999)
mentioned some of the approaches as follows. The first ideology is the anthropocentric approach. The
anthropocentric approach basically seeks to conserve natural resources primary because of their
importance to the survival and interest of human beings. Such school of thought seeks to conserve
nature with the sole aim of meeting human needs. The second is the ecocentric approach. It is
concerned with the welfare of non-human creatures and collective entities such as ecosystems. Thus,
this school of thought believe that nature or non-human systems have value in themselves. They
therefore need to be conserved whether they serve human interests or not. There has been a huge
controversy with this particular approach.
From these two broad approaches have emerged three main ethical values for conserving nature (Adler
and Wilkinson, 1999). The first approach is the instrumental value, which sees nature only as a human
resources source to be exploited. Therefore, killing fishes or destructing natural ecosystems to meet
human needs is justified. The second one is the existence value. It believes in the mere existence of
nature, example water body, even if it does not serve any direct purpose to humans. For instance, it
may exist to beautify the landscape. This second value is somewhat connected to the first one. The
33
third value and controversial one is the intrinsic value, or inherence value. This value postulates that
nature has value in itself completely independent of human beings. That is whether they serve human
interests or not, nature and for that matter ecosystems have “equal rights” as their human counterparts
to exist undisturbed.
These conservation approaches and values directly or indirectly affect how individuals, groups and
nations are committed to conserve different ecosystems, which include tropical water ecosystems.
Therefore, conservation of water bodies in general could be thought of as the sustainable use of water
resources to ensure that potable water is available for our current and future generations.
Tropical water has been defined in a couple of ways. From the geographical position, tropical water is
the water that lies between the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere and the Tropic of
Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere. There is yet another subjective and temperature dependent way
of defining tropical water. From this view, tropical water is any water whose temperature never goes
below 65oF/18oC/291K.
An estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to improved drinking water sources
(WHO/UNICEF, 2006). Anthropogenic factors such as population explosion, exotic species invasions
have worked together over the years to place a major stress on global water bodies. Catchment
modification through changing land use, eutrophication, fisheries exploitation and toxic contaminant
loadings have posed similar stress. Other human factors such as systematic overuse of streams for
hydroelectricity, agriculture and the lack of proper water governance at the watershed scale, have also
posed many threats to water bodies. Climate change is predicted to be a major cause of change across
all ecosystems. There are particular concerns about impacts on freshwater systems due to the coupling
of direct impacts on both water hydrology and ecology (Rahel et al., 2008; Muir et al., 2012). Several
phenomena associated with climate change, including extreme weather events such as flooding and
droughts, altered patterns of precipitation and river runoff, and decreased snow cover are expected to
present challenges to the consistent availability of safe water (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, 2008).
A world water crisis is fast developing. The situation is worsened by the present mismanagement of
water resources world-wide as result of inadequate governance. Another reason is the lack of
commitment to manage water on an ecologically sustainable basis at the watershed scale. For instance,
the surface area of Lake Chad has reduced from about 25 000 km2 in 1963 to about 2000 km2 in the
late 1990s. The situation has severely impacted the economy and food security in the region. The
shrinkage of the Lake has been driven by climate change, huge and competing demands for water, and
siltation from accelerated erosion due to poor land-use, much by unregulated small landholders. Also,
the level of Lake Victoria has decreased by 2 m between 2000 and 2006, due to its systematic overuse
to generate hydroelectricity (Elisa et al., 2010).
Some authorities have predicted that the water crisis will become more intense in the future because the
demands for water used for food production could double over the next 50 years. Although there is an
increase in global knowledge of great freshwater ecosystems, there is the urgent need for aquatic
scientists and managers, particularly those in Africa to insure that tropical waters are properly
conserved. Balancing water needs, resources and environmental functions mean that a holistic approach
to water resources management is needed, taking into account all users and aiming at an equitable and
efficient management and a sustainable use of water resources. Following the West African Water
34
Conference in 1998, political commitment for better water resources management quickly
materialised with the installation of regional institutions and organisations responsible for
promoting and implementing an integrated approach to water resources management (Global
Water Partnership, 2013). There has being several other studies and attempts to conserve tropical
water bodies in general. The objective of this manuscript is to review various methods and approaches
that have being used to conserve tropical water bodies, especially using the multiple barrier approach.
Reviews
Muir et al. (2012) introduced a new conceptual framework, Exposure, Sensitivity, Vulnerability,
Response and Action (ESVRA), designed to inform climate change adaptation strategies for standing
freshwaters at multiple spatial and temporal scale. It is a typical example of the multiple barrier
approach. Though their work was principally dealt with Scottish freshwaters, their model could be
adopted and applied in many other regions to conserve water ecosystems, for example tropical waters.
Their framework is based on an understanding of the complexities of climate projections and its
resultant hydrological and ecological changes.
The ESVRA conceptual framework sought to assist policymakers and practitioners in adaptation
planning. They recommended that practical actions should be identified by carefully going through the
framework’s key stages. They proposed four key stages in the model. The first stage is concerned with
understanding the exposure to the pressure (external drivers). The second stage deals with considering
the sensitivity of the system at multiple scales (internal functions). The third stage explores areas of
vulnerability and risk (a measure sensitivity plus exposure) and the final stage deals with consideration
of multiple possible responses. The main stages of the model are elaborated briefly below.
Exposure to climate change projection for the region
Muir et al. (2012) proposed that it is important to have reliable models of climate change at a scale that
is relevant to management strategies and actions. It is also always important to have the latest Climate
projections of the region in consideration (Kernan et al., 2010). Also, it is important to have a
technology that will provide decision makers with climate change projections at a finer spatial and
temporal resolution. A technology to provide outputs related to three most important greenhouse gas
emissions scenarios is also needed. Again, it is important to have a technology to quantify the
uncertainty associated with each projection. The assigning of each outcome a related probability or
likelihood of occurrence is therefore very necessary (Hughes et al., 2004). Temperature, rainfall and
potential evapotranspiration (PET), are important factors affecting the catchment water balance.
Sensitivity: climate change impacts on Lake Hydrology and ecology
Climate change is likely to affect the hydrological cycle most significantly through altered temperature
and precipitation patterns, intensities and extremes (Kernan et al., 2010). Climate change will also
affect the ecology of standing freshwaters through multiple pathways, acting at different geographical
scales and in response to landscape setting (Adrian et al. 2009). Muir et al. (2012) added that the
concept of the scaling relationships between lakes and their surrounding environment, the lake
landscape-context provides a way of approaching the relative sensitivity or resilience of an individual
lake to change. Different lakes therefore respond differently to climate change impacts. For instance,
small shallow lakes may be sensitive to reduced summer precipitation with lower runoff, reducing the
35
flow of the system and increasing residence times. This may lead to greater accumulation of
phosphorus in sediments which can subsequently lead to cyanobacterial blooms.
On the other hand, large deep lakes are less likely to respond to these drivers of change, but they may
be more sensitive to other changes; for example, longer periods of thermal stratification reaching
greater depth can lead to deoxygenation of the hypolimnion and stressed fish assemblages. Muir et al.
(2012) grouped expected changes into three functional categories. The categories are those affecting
physico-chemical (water quality), hydromorphological (physical structure and habitat) and biological
elements of the lake system. However, it would be problematic to attribute changes solely to climate
change since multiple interacting stressor factors such as water-level management for hydropower
generation, land-use management (with intensive farming practices leading to eutrophication) and
acidification from atmospheric deposition of industrially-derived emissions could affect lake systems
(Hughes et al., 2004; Kernan et al., 2010; Muir et al.,2012).
Muir et al. (2012) mentioned some potential physico-chemical changes as increased water
temperatures, earlier onset and longer periods of thermal stratification, alteration of dissolved oxygen
and carbon levels, as well as increase in the release of sediment-bound nutrients and contaminants into
the water column. Changes to water chemistry may lead to increases in cyanobacterial blooms, which
might alter the photic environment and ecological function of the whole system.
Potential hydromorphological changes might include changes in precipitation amounts and timings,
leading to more extreme floods and droughts. Changes to the water-level regime will have
consequences for lake–landscape connectivity and will result in changes to shoreline complexity and
habitat structure. The biological changes may include changes in composition, phenology, trophic
structure, organism abundance and productivity.
Another indirect impact of climate change may include greater movement of both native and invasive
non-natives species. Others are alteration of competitive dominance, increasing predation rates and
enhancing the virulence of diseases.
Vulnerability: approaching a spatial risk analysis for Scottish lakes
Muir et al. (2012) explained vulnerability to climate change to reflect innate characteristics of a species
or system using geographic information systems (GIS) techniques or technology, where one can map
areas where highest changes coincide the projected temperature and precipitation (Hughes et al., 2004).
After mapping, distribution data of species or habitats of conservation concern and interest could then
be added. Therefore, major risk areas are mapped and prioritised to focus early conservation action.
Climate projection scenarios could also be incorporated. I personally agree with Hughes et al. (2004)
on this point. Because particularly in Africa or the developing world both the funding and the
technology needed for such undertaking could not be readily available and much could not be done
practically. Everything therefore will begin and end on paper and in conferences without any practical
actions.
Response: multiple adaptation futures
According to this model, there could be many possible adaptation options depending on the underlying
philosophy of environmental managers, the political will, timescale in which decisions can be made
36
and available funding. Lack of political will particularly in Africa, could be a major hindrance. In
general African politicians are not committed to the needs of the citizens as compared to their western
counterparts. It is unfortunate but it looks like many African politicians are just interested in winning
elections and not how to meet the basic needs of the populace. Therefore, in most cases the business as
usual scenario is adopted by the politicians. By the business-as-usual-scenario, I mean that politicians
in Africa turn blind eyes and deaf ears to these problems, thereby taking the people for granted. Ghana
is currently facing some water challenges when huge sums of money are being spent on loans for the
politicians there.
Some possible responses mentioned by Muir et al. (2012) include a scenario where nothing is done or
trying to keep the situation at base levels with measures such as reducing point and diffuse pollutants or
habitat alteration. In the scenario in which nothing is done for instance, continuous pressure from
pressure groups such as Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), environmental scientists and the
general public can increase the likelihood for management of freshwater to take relevant actions. Such
actions may include making use of low-regret, evidence-based adaptation techniques which are
consistent with the contextual position of the lake in the landscape.
Another important action is the reduction of other anthropogenic pressures at the catchment scale.
Again, another problem in Africa or the developing world is that the NGOs and other pressure groups
may not be as financially secured and powerful as their counterparts in Europe or the western world in
general (Ahmad, 2002). Their impacts on politicians are therefore limited. They are dependent on these
politicians to some extent. Therefore, their collaboration between the governmental management teams
and the general public might not be relatively effective as their counterparts in the developed nations.
Poverty could be partially blamed for this situation. The people immediate need is to get food, clothing
and shelter first and think about conserving nature next.
In the United Kingdom for example, management has worked closely with land owners and farmers to
plant many kilometres along rivers and also control cattle access to watercourses, thus enabling
regeneration of vegetation at the bank of water bodies. Some other adaptation actions recommended by
other authors include conserving habitat and species baseline as well as protected areas and other highquality habitats.
It is also important to reduce anthropogenic sources in spite they may not be directly linked to climate
change and developing ecologically resilient and varied landscapes. Current reviews advocate for
focussing much effort on conserving the baseline through management of protected areas. Muir et al.
(2012) for instance believe that reducing sources of harm not linked directly to climate change is a very
necessary mechanism to achieving a successful adaption.
Studies have shown for instance, that working to reduce both point and diffuse pollutions points
through practical actions like fencing off or planting buffer strips along lake margins have been shown
to be effective in reducing levels of phosphates and nitrates in the water (Hoffman et al., 2009). Spaces
should also be made for the natural development of rivers and coasts. Decision makers should also
thoroughly analyse causes of change in the ecosystem so that they can make sound decisions based on
critical analysis of specific situations. Current literature is advocating for both mitigation and
adaptation to climate change issues. It will also be very expedient for decision makers and
implementers to integrate adaptation and mitigation measures into conservation management, planning
and practice.
37
Actions: adaptation across multiple spatial and temporal scales
The Exposure, Sensitivity, Vulnerability, Response and Action (ESVRA) model by Muir et al. (2012)
recommends that management should undertake proactive actions to build resistance or greater
resilience to climate change to handle management at multiple spatial and temporal scales. By that,
some sixteen specific adaptation strategies were proposed by Muir et al. (2012) both at the local and
national levels. This means that all the necessary actions were not placed only on the government but
also on the local people. An effective collaboration between initiative and actions at the local and
support at the national level is more likely to give better results. At the local level for instance, there
could be measures to reduce point pollutants as well as embarking on riparian zone planting. There
could also be ecosystem based catchment restoration for example, by reconnecting wetlands and
renaturalisation of watercourses to enhance resilience.
Some proposed adaptation actions at the national level include reducing diffuse pollutants, creating
migration corridors, moving from poor to good management systems, creation of new reserves and
redesigning of protected area networks. Muir et al. (2012) categorised these adaptation measures into
those that can be achieved in the short term and long term. An example of a short term action at the
national level is reducing diffuse pollutants and an example of a long term action at the national level is
creation of new reserves or reservoirs.
Muir et al. (2012) concluded that lakes vary naturally in landscape setting and specific catchment
characteristics. Also, climate change is expected to affect freshwaters in different ways depending on
the landscape setting. They admonished therefore that management should clearly understand and
incorporate these concepts when developing adaptation strategies for the conservation freshwater.
Again, management should implant adaptive processes and closely monitor and review those adaptive
processes regularly. Also resources should be directed to the most vulnerable situations.
The multiple barrier conceptual model
As mentioned earlier, many nations have now adopted the multiple barrier conceptual framework in
conserving their water ecosystems and drinking water (Wickham et al., 2011). Some studies have cited
that initial attempts to protect drinking water sources are highly correlated to a reduction in treatment
cost. According to Dudley and Stolton (2003), a survey of 105 of the world’s larger cities revealed that
nearly one-third of those cities have some form of conservation and protection for at least part of the
their drinking water source areas. Ernst et al. (2004) reported a nonlinear and inverse relationship
between drinking water treatment costs and the percentage of forest in the source watershed.
Protection of drinking water in the United States is based on a multiple barrier conceptual model
(Dougherty, 2010). For example, cities like Seattle, Boston, Portland, and other smaller cities in the
United States of America for instance have invested in land conservation rather than investing in
additional treatment facilities because it was considered to be a more cost-effective means of providing
clean drinking water (Postel and Thompson 2005). The multiple barrier concept advocates using
several defences to protect drinking water (Hrudey et al., 2006).
Some studies have shown that it can be 40 times more expensive to remove impurities from
groundwater than the initial investment to protect the source of the drinking water in the original place
38
(Department of Environment and Labour, Nova Scotia, 2002). This model advocates strongly for
source water protection and seeks to protect the land which provides the source of the water. The
multiple concept is based on the assumption that the possibility of delivering contaminated water is
limited if measures are put in place to maintain and conserve the natural vegetation. And also, properly
treat the water efficiently, keep the water delivery systems in good state and effectively communicate
and interact with the general public. The multiple barrier conceptual models in Nova Scotia for instance
combine management and engineering strategies to promote public health. Regarding the management
aspect, it is ensured that the management members receive adequate training and certification to
acquire the requisite knowledge and skills for their job. The engineering aspect on the other hand sees
that new water treatment systems and plants should be constructed.
The multiple concept model is considered to be one of the best and most comprehensive methods for
conserving water and ensuring good drinking water quality. This approach ensures that many measures
are put in place in the process of harnessing, treating and delivery of quality drinking water in such a
way that when one barrier fails, other barriers will be there to prevent the flow of contaminants in the
process.
Main barriers in the in the multiple barrier conceptual model
The sub stages of the multiple barrier conceptual model as adopted by Nova Scotia are reviewed below
(Department of Environment and Labour, Nova Scotia, 2002). It involves three main barriers. The first
barrier is dubbed, “keeping clean water clean”. The second barrier is known as “making it safe” and the
third one is referred to as “proving it’s safe”. Each of the stages is elaborated and discussed briefly
below.
Keeping clean water clean
This first barrier of the multiple barrier conceptual model termed “keeping clean water clean” is
basically involved with series of measures put in place to prevent contaminants from entering drinking
water sources. To achieve this, the best or purest sources of water are carefully selected in the first
place and demarcated as pure drinking water sources and are protected as such to prevent impurities
from getting into them. In selecting the purest water sources, sites close to landfills, farms (pesticides,
fertilizers) and mining fields should be avoided as much as possible (Hrudey et al., 2006). This is
because harmful pollutants could be leached into the water body.
The major challenge in this area, however, is that, in many cases the lands needed to protect these pure
water sources are owned by different municipalities or private owners and therefore, there could be
conflicts of interests. It is therefore very necessary for the stakeholders such as governments,
businesses, NGOs and individual citizens to enter into mutual partnerships that are consensus based to
supplement the use of regulations or laws to ensure source protection.
Partnership among the watershed community for sources protection could be a very difficult and long
term process and it requires strong commitment at the local level. There are essential steps in source
protection. First of all, there should be a proper inventory and characterization of the water source.
Next, an up to date inventory of all pollution sources of the water must also be developed. This should
be followed by accurate quantification of the types of pollutants that are discharged into each
39
watershed. Knowing the specific pollutants will also help to find the necessary technology to treat the
water or remove the chemical or pollutant.
Furthermore, goals and strategies should be developed and implemented to protect, monitor and
evaluate each watershed. Some specific measures to ensure that clean waters are kept clean as proposed
by the Department of Labour of Nova Scotia in collaboration with other departments are as follows
(Department of Environment and Labour, Nova Scotia, 2002). First, this department would continue to
institute watershed management plans and land use by-laws. Secondly, the management will also have
to endorse the efforts of the local farmers to develop plans concerning the storing and spreading of
chemical and natural fertilisers to protect watersheds. Thirdly, the Department of Environment and
Labour would set up an inter-departmental drinking water management committee to educate and train
realtors and individual well owners about the region’s standards for constructing wells as well as how
poor septic systems can lead to the degradation of the quality of water. The second barrier of the
multiple barrier conceptual model, which is the main line of defence, is termed “making it safe”.
Making it safe
This involves a lot of measures put in place to remove both artificial and natural impurities from the
water source. Some popular treatment methods include filtration, sedimentation, flocculation and
sedimentation. When the specific pollutants are found, then adequate treatment methods are
constructed to remove them. The delivery systems should also be repaired or maintained to be in good
state in order to prevent re-infection of the treated water. For example there have been cases where
delivery pipes are destroyed by road construction works thereby exposing the initially treated water to
pollutants and harmful microbes.
The treatment of water could be done by small systems with disinfection techniques such as
chlorination or ultraviolet light. The treatment process could also be done by using state-of-the art
plants and technology. The treatment could also be aimed at removing certain specific chemicals such
as trihalomethanes (THMs). THMs for instance are linked with a small risk of bladder cancer upon
consumption of such contaminated water for a long time. THMs could for example be removed by
activated carbon filtration.
Some other approaches that have been used to reduce THM levels in drinking water include
maximising existing plant operations, installing new treatment facilities or simply avoiding the
contaminated water as source altogether Department of Environment and Labour, Nova Scotia, 2002.
Some specific measures to ensure that the drinking water is made safe as proposed by the Department
of Environment and Labour of Nova Scotia in collaborations with other departments forming InterDepartmental Drinking Water Management Committee are as follows. The committee will seek to
collaborate with outside parties to educate the general public to encourage individual well owners to
first of all adopt water treatment procedures that is based on an assessment of source water quality and
key characteristics.
Thus, when the quality of the source water is known, appropriate treatment methods could then be
prescribed. The Inter-Departmental Drinking Water Management Committee will also set up specific
water testing and monitoring plans that specifically address the unique quality and characteristic of the
source and treatment facility. The facilities would then be upgraded where necessary to optimise the
facilities to make use of the existing resources. In addition, the Department of Environment and Labour
40
will continue to make sure workers in the water treatment and distribution attains specific education
and ensures that their certificates are renewed constantly (Department of Environment and Labour,
Nova Scotia, 2002). The committee will also renew and standardized all municipal water systems to
ensure that each system comply to up to date environmental standards and institute public information
programmes to educate the citizens to be aware of their roles and responsibilities in conserving and
protecting drinking water. The third and final step is termed “proving its safe”.
Proving it’s safe
This final step is concerned with developing stringent methodologies and technologies to monitor the
treated water in order to identify deficiencies and subsequently taking adequate and timely actions to
correct them. The Department of Environment and labour of Nova Scotia (2002) in collaboration with
the Inter-Departmental Drinking Water Management Committee will first of all continue to monitor
public drinking water supply owners to ensure that they comply with the testing requirements.
Secondly, the department will also develop and implement standard enforcement and reporting
protocols. Thirdly, the department will audit both municipal and small public drinking water system.
The department will also seek to enforce approval conditions that protect water supplies and educate
private well owners on the need for regular water quality testing.
The multiple barrier approach adopted to conserve and protect drinking water in Nova Scotia entails
three main barriers namely: keeping clean water clean, making it safe and proving it safe. These
barriers are carefully planned so that they supplement each other and are supported by assignment of
specific roles and responsibilities to relevant people and it is backed by an effective regulation and
strict enforcement.
Conclusion
Multiple anthropogenic stresses such as population growth, catchment modification through changing
land use, eutrophication, fisheries exploitation, toxic contaminant loadings, exotic species
invasions/introductions coupled with climate change are impacting negatively on global waters
(particularly tropical water bodies) that serve as source of drinking water. In spite of the increase in
global understanding of great lakes ecosystems, there still remains an urgent need to insure that there is
a healthy and functioning community of African aquatic scientists and managers to continue to address
both the short term and long term water resource management challenges.
Studies have shown that adopting the multiple barrier approach in conserving water bodies starting
with the protection of drinking water sources has proven to more cost effective. The multiple barrier
approach assumes and has been verified that, the possibility of delivering contaminated drinking water
is highly reduced when the natural vegetation in the catchment areas is maintained and conserved, the
treatment of raw water is efficient, the delivery system is kept in a state of good repair, and there is
effective timely and constant communication with the general public.
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43
Effects of heavy rainfall on drinking water during dry and monsoon seasons in
Nepal
Hem Raj Bhattarai
Department of Environmental Science, University of Eastern Finland P. O. Box 1627, Kuopio Finland,
[email protected], [email protected]
Abstract
Water is most essential for every living organism for their survival and development. Rainfall is one of
the forms of precipitation that reaches to the earth surface from atmosphere and is major source of
water. Nepal receives extreme rainfall due to its geographical situation and monsoon. The annual mean
precipitation of Nepal is around 1800 mm where the monsoon contributes the 80 % of total annual
rainfall. Subtropical climate favouring high precipitation can cause floods during the monsoon season.
Overflow of river is responsible to contaminate the water sources over the surface and under the
surface of earth so does in Nepal also. Regarding the contamination type biological contaminations are
more pronouncing in Nepal due to heavy rainfall in all seasons especially in monsoon. Due to
unhealthy water supply system and improper sanitation services in urban and rural areas, the chance of
contamination is very high. The main diseases like cholera, Hepatitis E and typhoid are persisting
during rainy season causing the frequent diarrhoea and affecting mainly the children below 5 years of
age. In addition nitrates and phosphate are highly leached from agricultural land and thereby enhancing
the risk of health hazard particularly in rural areas.
Keywords: Topography, Heavy rainfall, Flood, Diseases, Health, Poverty and Sanitation.
Introduction
Water has significant role in the life of all living creature. Human body comprises the 70 % of water by
volume of its weight and we need two litres of water per day to survive (Fry, 2006). Out of 3 % of all
water is fresh water and most of it locked up in the Antarctica, Arctic and in glaciers (Fry, 2006). Thus
the entire organism on earth relies on available 0.5 % of fresh water to fulfil their demand where and
when it is necessary. The major sources of this proportion of water are underground aquifers which are
then followed by rainfall, lakes, reservoirs and rivers respectively (Fry, 2006). There fourth assessment
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 has concluded that there has been
significant change in the intensity and frequency of the weather and climate extremes which includes
increase in the number of hot days and heat waves, decrease in cold days, increase in the area affected
by drought and increase in the frequency of heavy rainfall (Reisinger & Dogra, 2008).
Rainfall fulfil the scarcity of water on earth indeed it is the important path of water however extreme
events of rainfall may carry out the many natural calamities including flood. These cases depend on
intervention of climate change, geography and temperature of particular region. General increasing
trend of temperature and rainfall of Nepal shows that it is highly vulnerable to the extreme climatic
event like flood (Marahatta et al., 2009).
44
Geography and Climate
Nepal is located in coordinate of 26° 22’ to 30° 27’North in latitude and 80° 4’ to 88° 12’ East in
longitude (MOHP, 2012), between two countries China in the north and India in the south in Asia.
According to the report by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) in
2003, the elevation range of Nepal lies from 200 meter to the highest peak of the world with five
geographic regions Terai, Siwaliks, Middle mountains, High Mountains and High Himalayas. Being a
land locked country with total area of 147181 km2 Nepal has great spatial variability in altitude which
supports the different climatic pattern which in turns governs the distribution of people whole over the
nation.
Figure 1: Geographical location of Nepal (Agrawala et al., 2003)
The climate of Nepal is highly variable as it is dependent on temperature. Due to the topography and
difference in elevation, the annual mean temperature of Nepal is 15° C (Agrawala et al., 2003; Regmi
& Adhikari, 2007). In summer the temperature of Nepal is reached up to 44 ° C which can be said as
maximum temperature in a year (MOHP, 2012). The temperature difference in all regions is varied in
summer and winter as well.
Monsoon is mainly result of pressure difference between land and sea. During day time sunlight heats
the both land and sea, but the land temperature rises faster than water in the sea developing the low
pressure in land. In the mean time due to moderate temperature over the sea, the high pressure is
developed causing the flow of moist air from ocean to land. The air tries to complete the circulation
after achieving the higher altitude but it reduces to capacity to hold the water causing precipitation over
45
the land surface which is called monsoon. Nepal receives moist wind from Bay of Bengal which is
responsible for precipitation during monsoon.
During the summer in Terai the temperature can rise up to 44 °C which is the highest among all three
regions. Temperature of 43°C and 29 °C can be found in summer in Hills and mountains respectively
(MOHP, 2012). In fact this summer time in Nepal is a wet time because of monsoon. During the winter
the temperature even falls up to 1°C in Terai. But in Hills and mountains the temperature can go to 1°C and almost always below 0°C respectively (MOHP, 2012). Winter is generally dry due to less
precipitation during whole over the season. Overall the rest seasons except four month of monsoon are
quite dry.
In Nepal monsoon has great significance in agriculture because the 80 % of total annual precipitation
is received by monsoon (Shrestha et al., 2008). The rest 20 % of precipitation is received during other
season which is very low in comparison to the monsoon. The seasons of Nepal can be divided on the
basis of rainfall throughout the year. The longest dominant season with high precipitation is monsoon
season (June – Sep), post monsoon (Oct - Nov), winter (Dec - Feb) and pre-monsoon (March - May)
(Karmacharya, 2010).
Documentation made by UNDP climate change profile says that rainfall can be defined as heavy
rainfall, if it exceeds the 5 % of the heaviest rainfall in that given region or season. From the data of
three decades from 1977 to 2006 taken from the Kathmandu Airport rain gauge station meet the criteria
of heavy rainfall in all decades during the monsoon period. In those three decades the maximum
rainfall were 1389 mm, 1431 mm, 1461 mm with minimum rainfall of 936.7 mm, 713.5 mm and 912.2
mm respectively which clearly shows the exceeded level of 5 % of maximum rainfall in particular
season i.e. monsoon (Karmacharya, 2010). In Nepal the range of precipitation varies from even less
than 150 mm to more than 5000 mm however the annual mean precipitation is about 1858 mm
(Marahatta et al., 2009) which meets the definition of heavy rainfall. Among five geographic regions
the precipitation forms and magnitude differs very strongly. Moreover, the Terai region has high
chance to receive the precipitation due to warm and humid climate. As the elevation increases the
precipitation form like drizzle and snow are often than rain and their magnitude also varies. According
to the UNDP climate change profile report of Nepal during monsoon the average rainfall is about 250450 mm per month.
Demography
Nepal is divided into three distinctive ecological zones Terai, Hill and Mountains. It is divided in five
administrative regions Eastern, Central, Western, Mid-western and Far-western Development Regions.
The variation of population also differs significantly in all those ecological zones and development
regions.
According to the preliminary report of the Central Bureau of Statistics the present population of Nepal
is 26 621 000 with the birth rate of average 1.40 % per year with density of 181/km2. Nepal
Government has allocated 58 urban municipalities the population of 3 227 879 and rest rural part the
population of 19 923 544 (CBS, 2011). The same report shows the growth of population has been
increased mostly in Terai and then in Hills and lowest in Himalayan region. Today 50 % of population
lives in Terai and 43 % in Hills and only 7 % in Mountains according to the Central Bureau of
Statistics 2011 (MOHP, 2012).
46
The density of population starts to decline as we move towards the mountain. One of the reasons
behind this variation of population may be the topographical and climatic variation. In the Kathmandu
the population density is highest (4408 /km2) while lowest population density is in Manang (3/km2)
(CBS, 2011). In case of development regions Central Development regions have highest and Farwestern Development region has the lowest population.
In 2009, the criteria setup by the United Nations Economics and Social Council (UNESCO) and
Committee for Development Policy (CDP) incorporated the Nepal as one of the Least Developed
countries among 49. Low income, human assets weakness and economic vulnerability are high in
Nepal (UN, 2010). In Nepal’s scenario the poor means those who are landless, who depends on natural
resources, marginalized, economically weak in terms of trade, infrastructure and technology. The
impact climatic change can cause big change in their daily life (Regmi & Adhikari, 2007). According
to the report made by World Bank Atlas method the Gross National Income of Nepal is $ 540 per
annum and about 25 % of people are lying under the line of poverty by 2011.
Water resources
Nepal is very rich in water resources. Many rivers, lakes and ponds contribute in this richness of
resource. There are about 6000 rivers all over the nation with a drainage area of 191000 km2 of which
74 % lies within the Nepal (Aryal & Rajkarnikar, 2011). The annual surface water availability of Nepal
is estimated about 225 billion m3 out of which 15 billion m3 is in use. Moreover, about 96 % in
agriculture and 3.8 % is used for domestic purposes (Aryal & Rajkarnikar, 2011). In case of
groundwater it is estimated that Terai region has high reserve of ground water in the shallow or deep
aquifers with potential reserve of 5.8 to 12 billion m3 which is mostly used for domestic purpose and
irrigation (Aryal & Rajkarnikar, 2011).
The rivers of Nepal can be divided into three categories. The first are those which are feed by snow or
glaciers called as perennial rivers. These rivers have discharge even in dry condition and they are
Mahakali, Gandaki, Karnali and the Koshi. The second groups of the rivers are those which originate
from the Mahabharat range and which are mainly fed by recharge of underground spring and
precipitation during both dry and monsoon season. Babai, West Rapti, Kankai, Kamala, Bagmati and
Mechi rivers belongs to this group. These are also perennial but the discharge is greatly varied on
seasonal basis (Aryal & Rajkarnikar, 2011). While the last one group are streams and rivulets
originating from the Chure range causing massive flash flood during the monsoon and remains dry or
little flow during the summer season.
About 80 % of annual discharge in all above rivers flow during the period of monsoon (Aryal &
Rajkarnikar, 2011) which can easily originate the probability of flooding. Out of total runoff from all
basins (average 7125 m3/sec) high portion of people depends on major basins of the rivers. Reaming
percentage of people; 18 % depends in medium basins while 40 % depends on basins covers by rivers
in southern part of nation (Aryal & Rajkarnikar, 2011).
Water supply and sanitation
Water and sanitation status indicate the health condition of particular nation or region. Global Water
Supply and Sanitation Report (GWSSR) defines “Basic sanitation” as private or shared but not
47
public disposal system that separate waste from human contact (Fry, 2006). In present more than 1
billion most of them in Asia are still lacking the improved drinking water facility while on the other
hand 2.6 billion people are devoid of improved sanitation services (Fry, 2006).
Water supply
The current coverage of water supply and sanitation services all over the Nepal is 80 % and 43 %
respectively (Kadariya et al., 2011). According to the report of World Resources Institute 1999, less
than 30 % of Nepal’s population access to safe drinking water. By the end of 2010 the water 94 % of
urban population and 78 % of rural population are getting the drinking water facility (Kadariya et al.,
2011). Nepal does not have proper water supply system in most part of the country. Only Kathmandu
has the complete water treatment and supply system but it is quite old and weak pipeline supply
(Bhatta, et al., 2007). But the recent status of drinking water in Nepal shows that almost 89 % of
households have access to the improved drinking water resources in contrast 11% of them are still
lacking the improved sources of water for drinking purpose which can be seen through the table 1
below.
Table 1: Percentile distribution of households and population by source of water Source: Nepal
Demographic and Health survey 2011 (MOHP, 2012)
Characteristics
sources of drinking water
Improved sources
Piped into dwelling/yard/plot
Public tap/standpipe
Tube well or borehole
Protected well
Protected spring
Rain water
Bottled water
Non-improved sources
Unprotected well
Unprotected spring
Tanker truck/cart with drum
Surface water
Other source
Households
Urban
Rural
Urban
Population
Rural
42.6
12.6
31
3.3
0.1
0
3.7
19
26.5
40.2
1.7
0.2
0
0.4
41
12.1
33.6
3.7
0.1
0
2.9
17.5
25.4
43
1.5
0.2
0.1
0.3
2.2
0.2
1.8
2.2
0.2
99.9
2.1
1.1
0.5
8.1
0
99.8
2.5
0.2
1.5
2.1
0.2
99.9
2.1
1.1
0.4
8.5
0
100.1
In addition to the above information from the same report, there has been an improvement in supply of
improved drinking water system since 2006. Above table shows that still 12 % of people in rural areas
are lacking the safe resources of water. Every municipality are trying to manage the proper water
supply system however most part of the country did not have access to safe drinking water which leads
people to use the surface water resources like ponds, streams and lakes for their daily purposes. Earlier
information includes the majority of Hills and Mountains people but few in Terai regions.
48
In Terai people use the hand pump to access the groundwater because the water table is very high in
compare to those hills and mountains where the water table is quite deep which makes easier for them
to access surface water. However, the surface water are directly consumes form the sources as they are
open and easier to access; but only recently the number of dug well has been increased in middle
mountains (Dongol et al., 2005). Mostly people prefer surface water than ground water in rural areas
even in Terai region also because they are open and subtle effort is required to access them.
Sanitation
The sanitation condition of Nepal is not standard which can assure the low risk of water related
diseases. The sanitation situation of Nepal is reflected by the use of toilet and hand washing habits
among the people in both urban and rural areas (MOHP, 2012). According to this report, about 58 % of
people in urban areas use the improved (not shared) toilet system encompassing 18 % of piped sewer
system and 35 % connected with septic tank. In contrast in rural areas, almost 37 % of people have the
improved sanitation facility. This percentage includes 1 % of piped sewer system which is very less in
comparison to urban and 24 % connected with septic tank and 7.3 % connected with concrete slab only.
The proportion of non improved sanitation facility in rural areas is very high i.e. 50 % while in urban it
is only 12 %. This poor sanitation services comprises 42 % of open pit latrine in rural areas (MOHP,
2012) which represents the high risk of contamination to the near water resources.
The other criteria to determine the sanitation status of Nepal is hand washing practices because it
determines the how people are securing themselves from diseases causing microbes. Table 2 indicates
that urban areas of Nepal have a better practice of hand washing than in rural areas. Almost 3/4 parts of
the household in urban are washing their hands with soap and water. In rural areas 33 percent of
household have not access to the safe hand washing practice because they either have only water or
even lack both soap and water. Among three ecological zones availability of both soap and water in
increasing from north to the south where as absence of both is just reverse with lowest in Terai.
Table 2: Number and percentage of household showing the hand washing practice Source: Nepal
Demographic and Health survey 2011 (MOHP, 2012)
Background
number of households in
soap and
water only no soap and
characteristics
study
water
no water
Residence
1546
75.6
10.8
4.8
Urban
9,280
43.2
18.1
15.4
Rural
Ecological zone
761
27.1
15.2
29.6
Mountain
4,563
44.9
14.9
16.8
Hill
5,502
53.1
19.1
9.3
Terai
Consequences of heavy rainfall
Fragile topography, variable climatic conditions and active tectonic process have made Nepal
vulnerable to different types of natural disasters. Nepal mostly suffers from water induced disaster like
flood, landslide, glacial lake outburst, drought and epidemic (Baral, 2009). On the basis of 20 years of
49
rainfall data from 1980 to 2000 Nepal is found to pose high vulnerability of flood disaster (Shrestha et
al., 2008).
The flood is the overflow of the streams or rivers when the carrying capacity of it exceeds. Heavy
rainfall and mass snow melt can make this happen (Hunter, 2003). The combined effect of topography
and monsoon in Nepal induced the high possibility for flood. Among all five geographic regions Terai
is highly vulnerable. Due to the low elevation Terai receives the maximum water supply from the
northern Himalayas which enhance the level of water received during the rainfall which in turn causes
the overflow of rivers.
The speed of water during the flood is very high with high potential energy stored in it. This energy has
capacity to cause effect on various forms on the planet. Its effect can be acute and chronic both
depending upon its intensity. In broader scale the flood has significant effect on every sector like
agriculture, health, biodiversity etc. In 2008 the Koshi flood in Nepal not only damage the
infrastructure but it effects was seen in every sectors like on health, community and biodiversity. Total
death toll in Nepal was 8 with displacement of 56 751 people and many of people suffering from
diarrhoea, cholera, eye conjunctivitis and pneumonia (Baral, 2009). The same report informed that 30,
65,000 people have to be displaces with the establishment of 158 health care centre in Bihar, India.
The intensity of flood can create serious damages on infrastructure like houses, drinking water pipe
line, internet connection, water treatment plants, hydropower, water sources, sewer channels etc.
Especially in developing countries like Nepal the heavy rainfall a huge problem. Uneven supply of
sewages’ pipes and drinking water pipeline in urban areas have high chance of cross contamination if
some defect or leakages either of the lines has happen. The capital of Nepal contains the almost half
proportion of old water supply network with many other problems like high head loss, leaks and
contamination and no construction standard (KUKL, 2008)
Forms of contamination and their effects
The spatial variation of the water resources and rainfall events may be different but the common way of
spreading the water borne diseases in through flooding. Biological agents (pathogens) are responsible
to cause the health risk for human. The flood can also carry the chemicals (non-biological agents) from
agricultural lands, landfill sites etc with significant effects. These two biological and non biological
forms of contamination can be carried out directly or indirectly.
Biological contamination
Contamination caused by living organisms or pathogens are known to be biological contamination.
They may be viruses, bacteria or protozoa vectors. These all contaminant need water in their life cycle
thus occurrence of water is highly favourable to reproduces and growth of their offspring’s and them as
well. This contamination has adverse effects on human health. Either direct consumption of
contaminated water or water ditches after the flooding can provide the habitat for the life of larvae of
vectors like mosquitoes to spread the diseases like malaria, kala-zar or dengue. This frequency of
biological contamination is higher that non biological contamination because the reproduction and
exposure time of those pathogens is high than the chemicals. Almost every disease in the table 3 is
caused due to the drinking of contaminated water.
50
Table 3: Microbial pathogens linked with drinking water or recreational water Source: (Hunter, 2003)
Organism
Schistosoma spp.
Dracunculus
medinensis
Giardia duodenalis
Diseases
Schistosomaisis
Dracunculiasis
Clinical features
Urinary and intestinal damage Bladder cancer
Painful ulcers on lower limbs and feet
Giardiasis Faecal
Cryptosporidium
parvum
Entamoeba histolytica
Vibrio cholerae
Salmonella spp.
Salmonella typhi
Cryptosporidiosis
Diarrhoea and abdominal pain, weight loss
and failure to thrive
Diarrhoea often prolonged
Amebiasis
Cholera
Salmonellosis
Typhoid
Diarrhoea, may be severe dysentery
Watery diarrhoea, may be severe
Diarrhoea, colic abdominal pain and fever
Fever, malaise and abdominal pain with high
mortality
Shigellosis (bacillary Diarrhoea frequently with blood loss
Shigella spp.
dysentery
Watery diarrhoea
Enterotoxigenic E. coli
Bloody diarrhoea and hemolytic uraemic
Enterohaemorrhagic E.
syndrome in children
coli
Viral hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis A and
Hepatitis E viruses
Various, including
Various
Enteroviruses
poliomyelitis
Non biological contamination
This type of contamination is due to the mixing of chemicals to the nearby water resources. The main
resources for this type of contamination are agriculture where huge amounts of fertilizers, pesticides
and other chemicals are used. Mainly the nitrate and phosphate are leached from the agricultural field
to the water sources. Generally this contamination is found to be higher in aquifers as they as leached
during monsoon season, they are supposed to be infiltrated and accumulate into the groundwater.
Ground water is highly prone for chemicals contamination mostly by nitrates, phosphorus, arsenic and
mercury. The effect of consumption of nitrate is methemoglobinemia or “blue-baby” syndrome. It
creates the starvation of oxygen in blood circulation causing even death also. In addition to it having
high risk of stomach cancer is another health hazard of nitrates. In rural Columbia this case had been
found and the reason behind this was excessive agricultural fertilization (Bittner, 2000).
Health hazard due to flood
Health hazard simply means the potential capacity of diseases causing microbes to cause serious illness
in a normal healthy person. Their effects are seen when those microbes come in contact with human
body by any means like food, water, air etc. The flood born health hazard is ubiquitous as it
disseminates the harmful microbes through the flowing water and making contact of contaminated
water with food (Rose et al., 2001).
51
Flood is one of most common causes of the contamination of water sources which finally attribute to
enhance the spreading of diseases causing harmful organism. Flooding has high chance to contaminate
the surface as well as ground water making it unsuitable for drinking and causing serious health impact
mostly in developing country (Hunter, 2003). This phenomenon is likely to happen when the flood will
mix the unwanted materials to the nearby water resources. This not only includes the contamination
water but also the contamination of food. When those unsafe water and unhealthy food are consumed
by any healthy human then the significant health impact can be seen. Both human and animal excreta
mixed during flooding can affect the human health after drinking contaminated water and eating food
(Prüss et al., 2002).
The outbreaks of many water borne diseases are associated with the flooding. Among 548 outbreaks
reported from 1948 to 1994 in the US, 51 % of them were associated with the water borne diseases and
heavy rainfall events (Curriero et al., 2001) The amount of microbial load on water bodies (including
drinking water reservoirs) has been significantly increased during the extreme runoff due to heavy
rainfall. Mostly E. coli, coliforms, fecal streptococci, Clostridium perfringens, Giardia and
Cryptosporidium were found in high number in extreme runoff condition in Germany (Kistemann et
al., 2002).
Nepal’s context
Being a subtropical country with extreme rainfall events during monsoon, the effects of flood are seems
to be more pronounced in Nepal. In Nepal it is estimated that nearly 30,000 people mostly children
under age of five die every year from water borne diseases due to consumption of untreated water
quality along with lack of proper sanitation facilities (Eriksson et al., 2008) . In the scenario of
developing nations 80 % of illness and deaths are related to water. Half of the hospitals bed in whole
world are serving the health facility for water related diseases (Batterman et al., 2009) All the climatic
features favouring the heavy rainfall events are most promising reasons to cause the water related
illness in Nepal.
Flood acts as a triggering agent to the major types of water borne diseases in all regions of Nepal.
Water borne epidemics normally occur in both dry and rainy season because of the insufficient water,
poor water quality and bad sanitation condition (Karki et al., 2010).
Cholera is one of the major water borne diseases which outbreaks and it is common during monsoon
season. In addition to it diarrhoea, dysentery, enteric fever, jaundice are also common and are attributed
with contaminated drinking water supply. About 60 % of total population is infected with many
parasitic diseases where the infection rate can be over 90 % in rural areas (Rai et al., 2002). Diarrhoeal
sample collected from mid-June (Monsoon period) in 2008 to mid-January (Dry Period) in 2009 and
were processed for the Vibrio cholerae at the National Public Health laboratory of Nepal. The
incidence of cholera was found to be 27 % with the highest incidence from mid-June to mid-July
(Karki et al., 2010).
Hepatitis E is very common and another type of water borne disease which is responsible for the
outbreaks in developing countries, especially in tropical and sub-tropical countries immediately after
the heavy rainfall (Hunter, 2003) like in Nepal . Enzyme Linked Immuno-sorbent Assay (ELISA) test
was conducted to determined the cause of outbreak from 29 January to 15 March 1955 in a Military
52
Training Camp of Nepal 25 km east from Kathmandu. The test was positive for the Hepatitis E virus
and was suspected form the drinking of faecally contaminated water because the water sources used by
solders include the springs and creeks located to the nearby and downhill from inadequately maintained
pit latrine (Clayson et al., 1998).
Another common microbe associated with the contaminated water sources is Salmonella spp. Among
300 urban; 42 samples show positive for Salmonella spp. (Bhatta et al., 2007). There was no other
health hazard studied but this contamination of salmonella shows the high potential of health hazard if
it would be consumed by drinking or by using it any other means like washing food. Another study in
Kathmandu also revealed the quality status of water in different seasonal fluctuation in rainfall (Karkey
et al., 2010). In this study, 3898 cases of blood samples to detect the agent of enteric fever in a Hospital
were taken between June 2005 and May 2009. This four year data shows that 68.5 % of enteric fever
was due to S. Typhi and rest proportion was due to S. Paratyphi A.
In addition to the above biological contamination another type of contamination has been also seen in
Nepal. The nitrate and phosphate values in water were found to be higher than the WHO guideline. The
values of these both chemicals were higher in pre monsoon and post monsoon season than in dry
seasons (Dongol et al., 2005). Moreover the amount of NH3 is also higher than WHO guideline during
monsoon season. The another study done in urban areas and rural areas of Nepal shows that nitrate
contamination in urban areas is high due to inadequate sanitation and poorly design septic tank (Bittner,
2000).
Present status of measures adopted for safe drinking water
Many steps have been adopted to assure water to be safe regarding the health. The current investment
on annual water and sanitation services provided by the Nepal Government is NRs 4,000 million
(Kadariya et al., 2011). In comparison to the rural areas of Nepal urban people have quite good access
to the water treatment system to ensure the safe water for drinking purpose (MOHP, 2012). This report
reveals that 88 % of people in rural areas are still lacking the access of treated water. Almost 10 % of
people in rural are treating the water is by boiling and filtration techniques like ceramic and sand
filtration and rest are using bleaching and solar disinfection.
While 33 % of people in urban areas use the filtration techniques which is higher than the proportion of
boiling which is 20.5 % of total population? About 55 % of people even in urban areas are lacking the
treatment facilities (MOHP, 2012) by which we can speculate the situation of rural areas where the
resources for advanced treatment system are limited.
Discussion
Nepal’s topographical variation and subtropical climatic condition is highly favouring for the extreme
event related to water (Baral, 2009). Moist wind from Bay of Bengal brings monsoon during summer in
June and it last for four months. This period is wet period where heavy rainfall is the root cause of
disaster like flooding. In both wet season and dry season the effect of flood are seen particularly in
water resources. Surface as well as ground water is contaminated with both types of contamination.
Biological contamination is more favourable during the monsoon season than non biological
contamination and seen immediately after the heavy rainfall (Karki et al., 2010).
53
There are many evidences of outbreaks of water related diseases after flood (Hunter, 2003). Flood is
capable of spreading the magnitude of bad sanitation either by percolating the microbes in underground
water resources or by direct mixing of animal and human excreta into the surface water. Cholera,
Hepatitis E and Typhoid are found in many studies done in Nepal and they are the real reason for
drinking contaminated water by corresponding microbes. Being a developing country the effects of
contaminated water are highly hazardous regarding the health (Batterman et al., 2009). Frequent watery
diarrhoea, fever and abdominal discomfort related to all above diseases (Hunter, 2003) may cause
serious health effect which can even lead to death of people. Every year globally1.8 million of people
die with diarrhoea including cholera (Fry, 2006).
Even though the water supply system is high in both urban area and rural, condition of supply system is
very poor (Kadariya et al., 2011). Due to weak sanitation condition (> 57 % by Kadariya et al., 2011)
and poor condition of water supply; water associated diseases are more bursting now a days. The
mortality rate are higher in rural areas than in urban areas showing the highest prevalceof diarrohea
among the children 6-23 months old out of which 30 % received no treatment at all (MOHP, 2012).The
present status of adopted water treatment ideas (MOHP, 2012) can figure about the possibility of more
impact on health due to water. Even in urban areas where people can access most of treatment services
possess the high proportion of people without treatment services (MOHP, 2012) which confirms the
weak condition of safe drinking water in all over Nepal.
The sources of chemical to contaminate the water resources are industrial effluent and agriculture. The
ultimate point of disposal of those unwanted chemical are water sources as it is believed that natural
process by degradation and dilution can help to reduce the effect (Fry, 2006). The flood is one good
solution in terms of reducing effects however the place where the water table fluctuation is very low;
water with chemicals during flood can easily contaminate the underground water (Dongol et al., 2005).
More than 70 % of people are involved in agriculture which means that the use of fertilizer for
agricultural productivity is high favouring the higher chance to contaminate the water. Few studies
show that mainly nitrate and phosphate fertilizer supposed to be used in agriculture in Nepal (Bittner,
2000; Dongol et al., 2005).
The proportion of fresh water pressent in the earth is highest in quifer (Fry, 2006) and the similar
situation exist in Nepal mainly in Terai region (Aryal & Rajkarnikar, 2011). The contamination of
these resources during monsoon season will continue for long time because in aquifer the dilution of
chemicals and potentiality of microbes for causing disease always remain low and constant respectively
due to slow movements of water in it. This represent the Terai people are at higher risk at present and
in future than the other regions in Nepal. However, the studies done in Kathmandu shows that the
highly dense capital is at high risk of conamination due to improper management of both water supply
system and sanitaion (KUKL, 2008).
The infrastructure related to the water supply system, investment for constructing good sewer pipelines,
awareness about the modes of contamination and treatment ideas could work together to ensure the
good health of people. The recent investment of nation (Kadariya et al., 2011), condition of water
supply system in capital city (KUKL, 2008), proportion of water supply system and measures adopted
for treatment (MOHP, 2012) clearly shows the significant potential to create the health hazard related
to drinking and eating of contaminated water and food respectively.
54
In Nepal most of the people use to boil the water in order to get it safe for drinking (MOHP, 2012).
Almost every municipalities water supply system used the chlorine as disinfectant which is not enough
to ensure the water free from contamination till it reaches to each house because of weak supply
network which have high chance to cross contaminate with human and animal feces. Awareness
programs about the personal hygiene and sanitation will be worthy in rural cases (Kadariya et al.,
2011). In urban areas like Kathmandu unless the regular renovation of water supply system, proper
assessment of water at regularly and regular check up of sewer pipeline can contribute for safer
drinking water in both season. Being agricultural country people mainly in Terai should made aware
about the impact of chemicals that can happen during monsoon. It is good to give them knowledge
about practices that can be done for preserving their water resources from contamination. Practices like
solar disinfection can be prolific in case of Nepal due to its subtropical nature.
The global climate is changing with rise in temperature which leads to increasing of sea level, melting
of snow from mountains and glaciers and frequency of precipitation (IPPC, 2007). This report
speculate the possible impact in all sector globally due to climate change and says that there is high
chance of detoriationg the quality of surface as well as ground water and conamination of water supply
due to heavy precipitaion; incresing the the risk of death. In the secenario of Nepal the trend of
tempreature is incresing and precipitaion trend is likely to increase during monsoon season (Marahatta
et al., 2009). This both above phenomenon are enhancing the chance of flooding which in turn create
the health hazard.
Nepal is among Lowest Developed country list and the progress made in pipe connection at home in
global scale in 2002 (Fry, 2006) as made in every nation. In order to understand the real solution of
water related problems proper studies is required in Nepal. In order to ensure the health standard of
people proper sanitation and water are needed as they are basic requirement to have good health and for
that problems related to them has be understood first so that efficient measures can be applied as soon
as possible.
Conclusion
The spatial variation of water resources and topographical distribution of human population in Nepal
are at high risk of contamination and health hazard respectively due to flood. The intensity of
contamination is higher after the heavy rainfall during wet season and quite lower in dry season due to
sufficient dirty water and insufficient fresh water respectively. Safe drinking water and good sanitation
services represent the health status; which are not good and adequate to meet the demand for good
health in both of the urban and rural areas. Natural events are impossible to control but the effect of
them can be reduced. More investment in water supply system and sanitation with awaking people to
use solar disinfection and filtration techniques might help to reduce the impact of contamination.
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from the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In: W. H.
Organization, ed. Regional Health Forum; WHO South East Asia Region. New Delhi: WHO
Regional Office for South-East Asia World Health House, Indraprastha Estate, New Delhi
110002, India, 1-10.
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Variability and Change in the United States: Potential Impacts on Water and Foodborne Diseases
Caused by Microbiologic Agents. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109 (Supplement 2), 211221.
Shrestha, M. S., Artan, G. A., Bajracharya, S. R., Sharma, R. R., 2008. Using satellite-based rainfall
estimates for stream of modelling: Bagmati Basin. Journal of Flood Risk Managment, 1(2), 89-99.
UN, 2010. The Least Developed Countries Report; Towards a New Internaional Development
Architecture for LDCs, New York and Geneva: United Nation Publication ISBN 978-92-1112813-0.
57
Water Problems in Iraq
Alyaa Zyara
Department of Environmental Science, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus
[email protected]
Abstract
Iraq is a country in Western Asia including the Mesopotamian alluvial plain, the northwestern end of
the Zagros mountain range, and the eastern part of the Syrian desert. It has been known in the west by
the Greek toponym Mesopotamia which means a region between Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Iraq water problems occurs after building of dams by its neighboring countries Turkey, Syria, Iran that
lead to determine the amount of water entering Iraq in addition to other problems such as groundwater
depletion, land subsidence, salt water intrusionis, surface water pollution, ground water pollution.
These problems may be solved if it would be possible to mix better-quality water at rates calculated to
saline water, or by choosing new varieties technique to resistance the salinity and increase freshwater
supplies by build dams and reservoirs to store runoff.
Key words: Iraq, Water problem
Introduction
Iraq situates in the Near East. It is adjoining by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf to
the southeast, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the south, Jordan and Syrian to the west. The total area of
Iraq is 438,320 km2. Topographically, Iraq is shaped like a basin and it is consisting of the Great
Mesopotamian coastal plain between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. The old name Mesopotamia
means the land between two rivers.
This plain (Fig. 1) is enclosed by mountains in the north and the east. These mountains can reach
altitudes of 3,550 m above sea level. The plain is enclosed and by desert areas in the south and west,
which account for over 40 % of the land area. For administration the country is divided into eighteen
provinces. These provinces are Arbil, Dahuk, and As Sulaymaniyah in an autonomous region in the
north and the other fifteen provinces are Al-Anbar, Al-Basrah, Al-Muthanna, Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Najaf,
Al-Ta'mim, Babil, Baghdad, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Karbala, Maysan, Salah al-Din and Wasit in central and
southern Iraq. This division corresponds nearly to the rain fed northern agricultural area and the
irrigated central and southern area. It is fated that about 11.5 million ha, or 26 % of the total area of the
country, are cultivable.
The remaining part is not viable for agricultural use under current conditions and only a small part
situated along ultimate northern border with Turkey and Iran is under forest and woodlands. The total
cultivated area is estimated to be about 6 million ha, of which almost 50 % in northern Iraq under
rainfall conditions. Less than 5 % of land is cultivated by Agricultural permanent crops. Permanent
pasture covers around 4 million ha. The climate in Iraq is fundamentally continental, subtropical, arid
to semi-arid type, with dry hot summers and cooler winters. The north and north-eastern Iraq with
58
mountainous regions have a Mediterranean climate. Rainfall is very seasonal and occurs in the winter
from December to February, except in the north and northeast of the country, where the rainy season is
from November to April.
(Figure 1):"Iraq". Microsoft® Encarta® Online
Encyclopedia 2001. © 2000 Microsoft Corporation.
Average annual rainfall is rated at 216 mm, but the rain can range from 1200 mm in the northeast to
less than 100 mm above 60 % of the country in the south. Winters are cool so that the day temperature
is about 16 °C and at night the temperature can be 2 °C or even there can be frost. Summers are dry and
hot or extremely hot, with a shade temperature of above 43 °C during July and evenly August, yet
dropping at night to 26 °C. Iraq can be divided into four agro-ecological areas (FAO 2003,
weatheronline.co.uk, 1999): See Fig 2 about distribution of annual rainfalls.
59
Figure 2. Courtesy of the Iraqi program for the preparation of Agro Ecological Zone Maps.
The total population is nearby 28.8 million (2005), of which 33 % live in rural areas. Average people
density is estimated at 66 inhabitants /km2, but it varies greatly from the almost uninhabited province in
the desert in the western part of the country to the most inhabited Babylon province in the centre of the
country. Average population growth was estimated to be 3.6 % during 1980–90, but emigration of
foreign workers, severe economic hardships and war have since reduced this growth evenly. See Fig. 3.
In 1991 safe water supplies reached 100 % in urban areas (United Nations, 2009) but only 54 % in rural
areas. The water supply and sanitation has deteriorated as a result of the wars, among other things
owing to shortages of chlorine imports for water treatment. In 2006 access to improved drinking water
sources reached 77 %t of the population (88 and 56 % of urban and rural population respectively). The
sanitation coverage was 76 percent (80 and 69 %, respectively).
60
(Figure 3): http://maps.nationmaster.com/country/iz/1
Water Resources in Iraq
Tigris and Euphrates
The great rivers Tigris and the Euphrates have their sources in Turkey and then they cross Syria and
Iraq, joining together before reaching the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates flows for about 1 000 km and
the Tigris for about 1 300 km within the territory of Iraq. Total area of Tigris River basin in Iraq is 253
000 km2, which is 54 % of the total river basin area. The annual mean runoff is estimated at 21.33 km3
as it enters Iraq.
All the Tigris tributaries are on the left bank (global.britannica.com). The first in upstream is the
Greater Zab, that originates Turkey. It produces annually 13.18 km3 water to Tigris and 62 % of the
total area of this river basin of its 25 810 km2 is in Iraq. The next river is the Lesser Zab, which
originate in Iran and it is provide with the Dokan dam (6.8 km3). The river basin is of 21 475 km2 of
which 74 % is in Iraqi territory.
61
The Little Zab produces annually about 7.17 km3 water of which 5.07 km3 is a safe yield to Iraq after
the construction of the Dokan dam. The next one is the Al-Adhaim or Nahr Al Uzaym and its basin is
about 13 000 km2 water entirely in Iraq. It produces only about 0.79 km3 at its confluence with the
Tigris. It is an intermittent stream subject to flash floods; the Diyala, that originate in Iran and its river
basin is about 31 896 km2, 75 % of this area is in Iraqi territory. It is equipped with the Derbendikhan
dam and it produces over 5.74 km3 at its confluence with the Tigris.
The Nahr at Tib, Dewarege (Doveyrich) and Shehabi river basins include together more than 8 000
km2. They all originate in Iranian territory and they bring together about 1 km3 of highly saline waters
in the Tigris. The last one is Karkheh river and it situates mainly in Iran and its drainage area is 46 000
km2 and it brings around 6.3 km3 water yearly into Iraq, namely during the flood season into the marsh
area of Hawr Al Hawiza and during the dry season into the Tigris River (Grego et al., 2004).
The annual flow of the Euphrates as it enters Iraq is estimated at 30 km3 fluctuating from 10 to 40 km3.
Unlike the Tigris, the Euphrates receives no tributaries during its passage in Iraq. About 10 km3 per
year are drained into the Hawr al Harnmar (a marsh in the south of the country). The Shatt Al-Arab is
the river formed by the confluence downstream of the Euphrates and the Tigris. It finally flows into the
Gulf after a course of only 190 km.
The Karun River, originating in Iranian territory, has a mean flow of 24.7 km3 and it flows into the
Shatt Al-Arab, to which it brings a large amount of fresh water just before reaching the sea (Grego et
al., 2004). See Fig4. It is difficult to determine the average discharge of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers
together due to the large yearly fluctuation.
The annual flow of those two rivers was 68 km3 in the mid of 1960s but as much as 84 km3 water have
been were recorded in the mid-1970s. However, there was the critical dry year with less than 30 km3 as
found in the beginning of the 1960s.
Such annual variations emptying make it hard to develop a sufficient water distribution plan for
competing water demand from each sector as well as to ensure fair sharing of water among neighboring
countries (UNDG, 2005). In order to increase water transport efficiency, minimize losses and
waterlogging, and improve water quality, a number of new watercourses were constructed, especially
in the southern part of the country.
Rainfall in Iraq
The rate of temperatures in Iraq range from higher than 48oC in July and August to the freezing point in
January. A plurality of the rainfall occurs from December through April and is more exuberant in the
mountain district and may reach more than 40 cm a year in some places (Figs. 2 and 5).
The summer months are marked by two kinds of wind phenomena: the southern and south-easterly
sharqi, a dry, dusty wind happen from April to early June and again from late September through
November. However, the shamal wind, from the north and northwest, prevails from mid-June to midSeptember. Very dry air, which accompanies the shamal, permits intensive sun heating of the ground
surface but it also provides some cooling effect. Dust storms can escort these winds and they may rise
to height of several thousand meters, causing dangerous flying conditions and closing airports.
Extremes of temperatures and humidity, coupled with the deficiency of water, will affect both human
62
beings and equipment. During dry season, clouds of dust caused by vehicle movement will increase
disclosure capabilities in desert regions. Flash flooding in wadis and across roads can hinder traffic
ability and resupply efforts during the rainy season. Clear, cloudless sky makes air notability a
precondition to successful onslaught operations throughout Iraq. Air operations may again be reduced
during windy season.
Figure 5. Iraq area in antic era.
In the foothill upland area there is essentially no deposition in the summer and only some showers in
the winter. The winter rainfall normally is about 38 cm. The nights are generally clear in the summer
and in the winter intensive clouds in level half of the nights. The alluvial plain of the Tigris and
Euphrates Delta in the southeast receives most of its deposition accompanied by thunderstorms in the
winter and early spring. The annual rainfall for this area is only about 10 to 17 cm. half of winter days
are cloudy, and in the summer the weather is clear most of the time.
In the mountains of the north and northeast the climate is characterized by cosy summers and cold
winters. Deposition occurs fundamentally in winter and spring, with least rainfall in summer. Above
1,500 m, heaves snowfalls occur in the winter, and there can see some thunderstorms in the summer.
The annual deposition for the whole area ranges from 40 to 100 cm. A few nights are cloudy in summer
and about half of the days are cloudy in winter.
63
Figure 5. http:// www.fas.usda.gov/pecad2/highlights/2003/01/Iraq_update/
Winter rains in Northern Iraq.
Groundwater in Iraq
Good quality subterranean water has been found in the foothills of the mountains in the north-east of
the country at 5-50 meters deepness, where the aquifer emptying is evaluated to be about 10 to 40
m3/sec, and was also found in the area along the right bank of the Euphrates at a depth up to 300
meters. The estimated aquifer discharge stands at 13 m3/sec. Currently, ground water resources provide
annually an estimated 0.9 billion m3 of water covering the irrigation needs for 64,000 ha of agricultural
land in areas where traditionally surface water resources are not available or supplemented by ground
water supplies, namely in the Governments of Al-Anbaar, Ninewa, Tameem, Salah El-Din, Kerbela'a,
Najaf, Samawa and Basrah.
Thousands of profound wells have been drilled so far, by the State Company for Water Wells Drilling,
at rural sites where the surface water network is not available. The wells are of multi-purpose and used
for supplementary irrigation in winter, irrigating the vegetables in summer, watering the livestock and
for domestic needs. Most recently, 1500 wells of up to 15 l/sec capacity have been drilled in Ta'meem
governments alone in response to the drought 2007 (Voss et al., 2013). Other batteries of deep wells are
64
drilled to supply water to both urban and rural population such as those in Condos (Ta'meem) and
Qarah Tuba (Diyala).
Water problem in Iraq
Limited water supplies in an area
Tigris and Euphrates are two rivers and the major sources of drinkable and agricultural water for the
entire area including Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran, and are thus a main source of strife in this strained
area.
The first problem of Euphrates is drying up. The river is significantly smaller than it was just a few
years ago due to the water policies of neighboring Turkey and Syria. The second problem of Euphrates
was South-Eastern Anatolia Project in Turkey, which involves the construction of 22 dams and 19
hydropower stations this led to reduce their annual quantity of water as well as their actual water
discharge.
Also Syria has built the Tabaqah dam or Euphrates dam with two tributaries and it is constructing
another dam. Iraq has seven dams in operation and thus Iraq has lost the full water control in its area. In
the other hand Iran cut several common side rivers of Tigris such as (Karkheh, Karun, Sirwan,
Lalonde). The construction of these dams in the upper reaches of the rivers has led to a decreased flow
of water downstream. These constructions have had radical consequences, particularly for the
Euphrates, because only a very small part of its flow is fed by rain that falls in Iraq. See Fig. 6.
Groundwater depletion
Drawdown is the lowering of the water table resulting from the loss of water from the aquifer. Dryness
typically sends water-users underground in search of aquifers, and in the middle of the 2007 water
crisis, the Iraqi government drilling 1,000 wells. Such as pumping has been the primary reason of
recent groundwater depletion, according to the new study. In area where the water schedule is lower,
the aquifer may become progressively less useful for several types of withdrawals as the water level
decreases to See Fig. 7
65
Figure 6. http://www fanack.com. Dams in rivers.
Totally 60 % of the wasted water was removed from underground reservoirs, while dried-up soil losses
in surface water from reservoirs and lakes exacerbated this situation. The groundwater storage loss rate
has been especially striking after the 2007. Overall, the area has expert an alarming average of
reduction in total water storage (Martin, 2013). Withdrawing of groundwater from aquifers faster than
it is replenished can reason or condense several problems. Thus the water schedule will be lowering,
resulting to aquifer depletion and aquifer subsidence. It means that after sinking of land can cause
groundwater to withdrawn salt water into aquifers, drawing of chemical contamination in groundwater
toward wells, and reduced stream flow because of diminished flows of groundwater into streams. Also,
industrial and agricultural activities, septic tanks, and other sources can contaminate groundwater.
66
(Figure 7 )http://www.kgs.ku.edu/High Plains/atlas/
d d ht
Land Subsidence
Land subsidence is a gradual settling or a sudden sinking of the Earth's surface owing to subsurface
movement of earth materials. Subsidence is a global problem experienced f. i. in the United States,
Mexico City, and in Iraq, where the problem is only in the northern mountain areas (Waller, 1982). See
Fig. 8.
Salt water intrusion
Salt water intrusion is was the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to
contamination of drinking water sources and other consequences. See Fig. 9. Because the specific
weight of fresh water is lower than that of salt water and the fresh water floats on top. The border
between salt water and fresh water is not distinguished; the zone of dispersion, transmission zone, or
salt-water interface is brackish with salt water and fresh water mixing (Barlow, 2003).
Saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers is also caused by more factors such as tidal fluctuations,
long-term climate, salinity increase of groundwater, fractures in littoral rock formations and seasonal
67
changes in evaporation and recharge rates. Recharge rates can also be lowered in areas with increased
urbanization and thus impenetrable surfaces (Barlow, 2003).
(Figure 8) http//ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthgwlandsubside.html. Land subsidence
Incidents of saltwater intrusion have been detected as early as 1845 in Long Island, New York.
Intrusion occurs in littoral aquifers worldwide, and this phenomenon is a growing issue in areas
including North Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, China, Mexico, and most notably in the
United States of America in its Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and in Southern California.
Surface Water Pollution
Surface water is the deposition that does not penetrate to land or returning into the atmosphere by
evaporation (including transpiration) is called surface runoff, which flows into streams, lakes, wetlands,
and reservoirs. Urban runoff can contribute to assortment of problems, including direct pollution of
receiving waters, overloading of treatment facilities, and weakness of sanitation and catch basin
functions. These problems are caused by hydraulic overloading and by the various pollutants contained
within the runoff (Sartor et al., 1974).
Metals and other pollutants
Heavy metals are one of the most common environmental pollutions, and their occurrence in water and
biota indicate the presence of natural or anthropogenic source (Mohiuddin et al., 2011). Various studies
have demonstrated that also aquatic systems are contaminated by heavy metals in different areas of the
world (Balkys et al., 2007) so that these pollutants can be a risk for food chains due to their toxicity and
accumulation ability.
68
(Figure 9) http//ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthgwlandsubside.html
Six heavy metals namely Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn, Mn and Cu were determined seasonally during 1993 in
selected five stations at the upper region of the Euphrates in river in water, suspended particles, bottom
sediments and aquatic plants (Salman and Hussain, 2012). There was a clear seasonal variation in their
concentrations in filtered water. These concentrations were much higher in the suspended particles with
a manifest of local variations. While their values in the bottom sediments were much lower than that
found in the suspended particles, with clear local variations among the studied stations. Mn had the
highest concentration among the studied metals in the sediments at all seasons, whereas Cd was the
lowest concentration. Plants were found to accumulate higher concentrations of Mn and Zn (Kassim et
al., 1997). Among the several studied of heavy metals, Cu, Mn and Zn are essential micronutrients for
plants including algae. Higher concentrations of these metals may inhibit the plant growth as well as
other aquatic organisms (Al-Lami and Al-Jaberi, 2002).
Industrial, tourist and institutional wastes put an extra risk on river water quality. These wastes can
contain lead, chrome, and other heavy metals that may pose health risks. Wastewater treatment plants,
which exist in some sectors, do not perform as they are expected. They need proper evaluation and
rehabilitation. Eutrophication - a characteristic problem in lakes - finds an access to occur into the
Tigris. This problem results from intensive use of detergents rich in nutrients. In general, pollutants of
different sources heavily affect the river water (Al-Rawi, 2005).
War in Iraq
When the United States attacked Iraq in March 2003, they bombed electric and water plants and their
pumping stations, sewage facilities, canals, dams, water desalinization plants. Iraq’s energy production
and allocation infrastructures were severely damaged. Recurrent electro shortages were observed,
labour difficulties to the remaining water treatment plants. Obviously, lasting and safe water allocation
will be a key issue in any peace talks in this area. Resolving of these problems will require a group of
regional collaboration in allocating water supplies, slowed population growth, improved efficiency in
69
water use, increased water prices to induce water keeping and ameliorate irrigation efficiency, and
increased grain imports to reduce water needs.
Depleted uranium (DU) is a very toxic compound effect to humans and other forms of life by both
radiologically and chemically. It makes pollution also to be transferred to humans by through water
contaminated by soluble components of DU, its daughter isotopes and also through contaminated plants
or animals living on such contaminated areas.
Wreck of oil installations, storage facilities, stations, pipelines, refineries and delivery vehicles caused
the release of thousands of tons of toxic hydrocarbons and other chemicals into the air, soil, and water
resources. The average of pollution has increased because of the continuation of through sanctions,
which has paralytic efforts to control environmental degradation (Ammash, 1991).
Soil Deterioration
The Iraqi soil has a high saline content in spite this problem is well known in many areas of the world
thus the Tigris-Euphrates plain is no exception at all.. As the water schedule rises through flooding or
through irrigation, salt rises into the topsoil, proffer agricultural land sterile. However, the silt is highly
saline. A appropriate drainage thus becomes more important. Soil deterioration came due to irrigationit
and it means that water can be removed by drainage systems, water schedule and high rates of erosion
will occur.
Salinization due to high evaporation rates, will be a build up of salts in the soils almost all soils are
saline, most of them even strongly saline and large zones are out of produce. The process of
salinization still continues and it will even increase when floods are controlled even if all salts could be
washed from the upper few meters of the soil.
Salinization problem has been a concerning problem in different wetlands in Australia, New Zealand,
and Europe. The impacts of increasing salinity in wetlands can significantly that to the affect the
biodiversity and assemblage of phytoplankton (Blinn, 1993), change the distribution and abundance of
macrophytes and fish (Chessman and Williams, 1974; Froend et al., 1987); in the other hand alter the
pro-portions of major ion in the water and magnify the effect of toxic component in the water and the
sediment.
The situation in northern Iraq seems to be better, as there is almost no salinity problem (Buringh,
1960). On the other hand in some part of Iraqi country it is possible to find groundwater, but always its
salinity level is higher than 1 mg/l. The salinity of aquifers on the right bank of the Euphrates River
varies between 0.3 and 0.5 mg/l, while water salinity increases towards the south-east of the country
reaching about 1 mg/l.
70
Groundwater Pollution
Some deposition infiltrates the land and percolates downward through gaps (pores, fractures,
crevices, and other spaces) in soil and rock. The water in these gaps is called groundwater. Aquifers
are like huge outstretched sponges through which groundwater seeps. Aquifers are recharged
naturally by deposition that percolates downward through soil and rock in what is called natural
recharge, but some are recharged from the side by lateral recharge.
Groundwater normally moves from points of high elevation and pressure to lower elevation and
pressure. This movement is quite slow, typically only a meter approximately per year and rarely
more than 0.3 m/d. Some aquifers get very little recharge and on a human time scale are seen as
non-renewable resources. They are often found fairly deep underground and were formed tens of
thousands of years ago. Withdrawals from such aquifers amount to water mining that will deplete
these ancient deposits of water close to the surface, the gaps have little moisture in them. However,
below some depth, in the zone of saturation, the gaps are completely filled with water. The water
table is located at the top of the area of saturation. It falls in dry weather and rises in wet weather.
The quality of waters that drained through complex aquifer systems or fars formations depends on
local factors, mainly the presence of evaporitic gypsum or anhydrite layers. Where they are present,
the total salinity can be occurs and several numbers of ions increase these ions are Na, Cl, NO3, SO4
and Fe ions (Stevanovic and Iurkiewicz, 2009).
Such fars formations cover a large area of Iraq. In southern Iraq good quality groundwater is rather
limited because of high levels of salinity. Salinity levels in Basrah are well above 7000 ppm – the
WHO standard for human consumption is 500 ppm or less (Murthy, 2011). Also, industrial and
agricultural activities, septic tanks, and other sources can contaminate groundwater.
Conclusions
We could approach and solve the water problems by improving the water productivity by mixing
different qualities of water at rates calculated to reduce the concentration of dissolved salts in water.
We should choose the new varieties and species of plant to resistance the salinity and drought and
new technique to irrigate agricultural land with low quality water by using exchange system and
good puncture.
We should increase freshwater supplies by building dams and reservoirs to store runoff water, bring
in surface water from another area, withdraw groundwater, convert salt water to fresh water
(desalination), improve the efficiency of water use, and import food to reduce irrigation.
References
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the upper-mid region of Tigris River, Iraq. Proceedings of International Symposium on
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73
Risks of seaside fresh water lagoons derived of human activities on the eastern
Spanish coast
Pedro Morell Miranda
Department of Environmental Science, University of Eastern Finland
POB 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland, Email: [email protected]
Abstract
On the over-urbanized eastern coast of Spain, the different lakes and lagoons have turned in one of
the last spots of wildlife. In this article, I try to show what kind of risks they suffer derived from
direct human activities, how human indirect consumption can affect those lakes, and the lack of
actualized scientific studies that show which is the real state of those lakes and lagoons, now
controlled only by the companies that exploit them.
Introduction
The eastern Spanish coast is one of the most urbanized areas of the country, with big cities, like
Barcelona or Valencia, and lots of smaller villages that multiply their population on holydays,
because of national and European tourism. This process of urbanization, the overpopulation that
comes with it, can have a huge effect on natural populations. And, in a dry Mediterranean climate,
most of those populations are centred in a series of fresh water lagoons, while the biodiversity on
other environments is consistently smaller due to habitat fragmentation, agricultural use, and lack of
water.
In this article I will try to describe the risks suffered by three representative lagoons of the southern
part of the coast: La Albufera, near Valencia; el Clot de Galvany, near Elche and Alicante, and El
Hondó, near Elche and Crevillente. Even if they are quite near to each other, their characteristics are
quite different.
The lagoons
As I mentioned on the Introduction, I divided the different lagoons and lakes of the eastern coast in
three examples. I want to notice that I don’t count the salt works, since most of the water income
comes directly from the sea, and they are less affected by human activities. Returning to the
examples, I chose a stable hypereutrophic lagoon with a high water income, La Albufera, typical of
the northern, more humid climate. We can find other lagoons like that one near the Delta del Ebro
and on the province of Castellón.
In contraposition to this type of lagoon, I selected el Clot de Galvany, an oligotrophic lagoon that
depends directly of the phreatic level and the groundwater income. It is typical of southern fresh
water lagoons in Murcia and Almería, and some similar can found in Northern Africa and southern
Italy. Then I selected El Hondó, as a blend of both, been an atypical aquatic ecosystem,
hypereutrophic but with lot of variation on the water level. It’s a sample of the effect of human
water control over an artificial lagoon.
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Figure 1. Spanish map showing the situation of lagoons.
La Albufera
La Albufera is a hypereutrophic lagoon situated 21 km south of Valencia, and between two big
rivers, the Jucar, and the Turia. Valencia is a big city (797,028 inhabitants in 2012) with many
smaller villages where industry is the main economic engine, and a wide agricultural production of
oranges and other citrus fruits, and rice. These activities give to La Albufera three characteristic
sides: the east one, which is only 100 meters from the sea, the north western side, where nine
industrial cities like Picassent or L’arger situate, and the south one, which is characterized by the
presence of orange trees and rice.
As two rivers the Jucar and the Turia have a big water flow, the risk of salinization from the sea
side is really small, since the pressure of the phreatic level is enough to avoid sea water to filtrate to
the lagoon (Oude Essink 2001). The main problem with this water is that both rivers are highly
exploited to sustain local industries, cities and agriculture, and the wastes most of the times end on
La Albufera. This kind of lagoons with plenty of water income, are not under this risk. But as I
pointed before, this is a high populated area, with lots of economical activities that depends or use
water in one way or another. So it is important to assess the effect of these activities on the quality
of the water.
On the north-western side of the lagoon, the water carries phosphorus and ammonia from the big
city and industrial use. From the south, the water is rich in nitrates and pesticides (Soria et al, 1987).
The only study on this topic (Soria et al., 1987) is quite old. Since the water quality levels are
controlled by the government and the public companies that manage the waters of that area, there is
not an actualized study of the effect of this nutrient income. Anyhow, the studies of Moreta (2008)
have shown in other parts of the world. Thus the similar case could cause serious eutrophication and
water turbidity, a huge increase of algae, an increase of bacterial communities and a reduction of
oxygen in water. That can cause a big effect on the fauna and flora of the lagoon, as the latest data
from nesting and fishing show. This effect is now so big that the government has developed a
program to recover the water quality of the lagoon and to protect the fauna.
75
Another side effect of this water from urban areas is that a study have found some concentrations of
pharmaceuticals (Vázquez-Roig et al. 2011), both dissolved in the water and deposited in the
sediments. This can have a big effect on local fauna.
Figure 2. La Albufra lagoon.
El Clot de Galvany
El Clot de Galvany is an oligotrophic lagoon that is located between Los Arenales, a tourist
urbanization area of Elche, to the north, and Gran Alacant, a tourist urbanization area of Santa Pola,
to the south. It’s based on an ancient river bed that in ancient times divide both hills. Nowadays,
only one lagoon is permanent, with a maximum depth of 2 m, and a system of small swallow
marshes (Robledano et al. 2001). On the east side, four hundred meters of dunes separate it from the
76
sea, and on the west, the dry riverbed is an area where is impossible to build, since with heavy rains
it turns into a stream.
Figure 3. El Clot de Galvany lagoon.
All the water income of this lagoons and marshes depend on the groundwater level excluding
accidental pollution. Therefore the risk of eutrophication is not elevated, but, for the same reason,
this kind of lagoon is quite sensible to variations in the phreatic level. In the last years, with the
increase of the urbanization around the lagoons, consume of water from the aquifer have increased,
reducing the phreatic level. This can cause the salt water to infiltrate on the aquifer, salinizing both
the lagoon and the extraction point for human use water (Vandenbohede et al. 2008). The
destruction of the dune system that protect the lagoon from the east side is in danger of disappear
too, since the modification of the coast to urbanization have changed the winds, and now the sand is
changing the natural position of the dunes. This is a dry environment, and the lagoon is some kind
77
of oasis for the birds, lizards and mammals that live in the dunes and in the pine tree forest that
accompanies it.
El Hondó
El Hondó is also known as El Fondo, in Catalonian. It is located between Elche and Crevillente, is
the more complex of the three types of lagoon. It is a hypereutrophic artificial lagoon system,
connected to irrigation channels. It is based on natural lagoons that appeared on the rainy seasons
and that were used by birds and mammals to breed. This whole lagoon system was called La
Albufera d’Elx. At the beginning, the artificial lagoon had a hunting purpose, but with the years the
biggest lakes began an important water reserve for the different agricultural activities of the area.
The lagoon is located in the site where the river Vinalopó and the river Segura once met (Navarro
and Navarro, 1982).
Nowadays, the main risk for the survival of these lagoons is not caused by chemical or biological
risks. The main problem is the volume of water in the different lakes and lagoons and this depends
on an irrigation committee. During dry season the need of water is high in a dry land with lots of
agriculture. Water cannot be thrown away in order to have some birds living there. Both the
Vinalopó, which course doesn’t arrive to the sea, and the Segura, are quite over-exploited, so they
cannot give more water. That means that some of the lagoons are temporary dry waiting for more
water to be available, and the distribution and concentrations of nutrients and pollutants to vary
greatly depending of the water disposability. This obviously has a direct effect on wildlife too, that
focus on the biggest lakes, which always have a good supply of water.
Anyhow, there are chemical risks, too. The Segura has been known for years as one of the most
polluted river of Europe, and due to this pollution the main lakes were really heavily loaded on the
90s. After two cleansing campaigns, the water of the Segura have now more acceptable values of
nutrients and organic pollutants, but some studies, like Aguilera (2002), show the presence of
heavy metals, pharmaceuticals and other pollutants that does not fit on the normal tests of water
quality that the irrigation committee do.
I have had access to the results of those control tests of the last years, and it’s true that the amount
of organic matter and nitrates have decreased over the years, but the results have a big variability,
and are biased by the variability on the water level of the different lakes.
Even with these cleansing campaigns, and the increase of concern about the nutrient levels of the
water, the other main income of water for these lagoons and the main two lakes is the agricultural
water of the Vinalopó, that is enriched with fertilizers, and that feeds the reed bed. As in the case of
La Albufera, this can cause, and had caused cases of eutrophication in some sectors of the system,
but they were isolated and remediated to avoid a general problem.
The other main risk of these lagoons is the salinization. As the lagoons are a deposit of sediments
from the river flows, the river do not continue to the sea and therefore mineral sediments have been
accumulated over the centuries to form a very salty earth. The dried part of the lagoons is known as
El Saladar (or the salt lands), and this is reflected on the flora that lives in water. There are few
species, and, with the exception of the reed, that grow on the wetlands, all are hallo-tolerant or even
halophile species.
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Figure 4. El Hondo lagoon system.
All these characteristics give to El Hondó a low water quality, with some of the lagoons are
completely dry or uninhabitable for years, but, even then, this is one of the richest lagoons in
biodiversity, since there are birds and mammals from both the first and the second type of lagoons,
and some species, like the European flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), that are more characteristics
of salt lakes (Navarro and Navarro, 1982).
79
Effects of pollution on lagoons
Eutrophication
The eutrophication, as I explained above, is an alteration of the normal populations of algae and
bacteria due to an excess increase of nutrients. This leads to contaminated anoxic waters, with a
high anaerobic bacterial activity. When the lagoon reaches this state, most of the aerobic living
forms are dead since they need oxygen. At lower levels, eutrophication has some pernicious effects,
too. The first and most evident is the reduction of benthic populations, focusing on invertebrates,
which will affect all the food chain (Powers et al. 2005).
There are other effects. Increase rates of amphibian infections and malformations have been related
to cultural eutrophication (Johnson and Chase, 2004; Peltzer et al, 2008). Benthic plants and algae
are characteristic of healthy waters. They act as a “shield” on lower levels of eutrophication. If the
pollution will increase, the benthic plants are replaced by ephemera and bloom-forming blue green
algae also called as cyanobacteria (McGlathery et al, 2007).
Salinization
In the case of salinization, the effects are difficult to generalize, since salinization will depend on
the salt tolerance of each species (Greenwalt and Hulbert, 1993). As in the Hondó, in salinized
lagoons, the fauna and flora are highly adapted to these salt levels. In fresh-water lagoons, the most
of the biodiversity will disappear when a certain level of salinization will be reached. If the
desalinization process is slow, sometimes the damage will be too great to remediate it.
Discussion
The main problem that I faced while doing this bibliographic research about those lagoons is that
most of the research and controls are from more than thirty years old, which implies that something
(or all) could have been changed over the years. I therefore asked the different committees, and the
Spanish Environment Department of the Generalitat to give me the data of their control tests. I only
received response of El Hondó committee, and as I mentioned, the data was biased by the water
level variability, that is not reflected on the test results. That means that, only with their data I
couldn’t find a significant pattern of increase or decrease of nutrients or chlorides, nor a correlation
between those concentrations and the nesting of the different bird species. Those control tests are
fine in order to assess the possible risk to agriculture, but are not enough to make an ecologic study
or an ecotoxicologic assessment of a lake.
During the research, I met a team of the Miguel Hernández University that was studying this topic.
This research groups has not yet any publication. Maybe their further study of water concentrations
and animal population distributions will bring some more data about the real state of the lakes.
Conclusion
The main conclusion is that almost every lagoon is near highly populated areas (not just the sample
ones, as populations tend to settle where water is abundant), and the eastern Spanish coast is one of
the most urbanized areas of Spain. Depending on the characteristics of the ground, the groundwater
and fresh water flows, and the activities developed in the area, the risks will vary. It is, anyhow,
clear that human activities have a great impact on this hotspots of wildlife. This is an area that have
80
been exploited for thousands of years, and most of the natural environments had turned to
agricultural or farming areas long ago, so this lagoons represent the places where most biodiversity
can be found. It is important to control the quality of the water that we tip out on them, and how
much water we can take from them, since the loss of these environments will evidently mean the
loss of one of the last characteristic wild environments of eastern Spain.
References
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populations from Urmia Lake and neighboring lagoons. PJBS 11, 164-172.
Aquilella, R.M. 2002. Control y valoración de la contaminación producida por compuestos
nitrogenados en las aguas que abastecen al Parque Nacional de El Hondo. Thesis published by
the University Miguel Hernández University.
Greenwald, G.M., Hurlbert, S.H., 1993. Microcosm analysis of salinity effects on coastal lagoon
plankton assemblages. Hydrobiologia 267, 307-335.
Johnson, P.T.J., Chase, J.M., 2004. Parasites in the food web: linking amphibian malformations and
aquatic eutrophication. Ecology Letters 7, 521-526.
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D.R., Carpenter, S.R., 2007. Aquatic eutrophication promotes pathogenic infection on
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lagoons: the role of plants in the coastal filter. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 348, 1–18.
Moreta, J.C., 2008. La eutrofización de los lagos y sus consecuencias. Thesis published by Northern
Ecuador University.
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Netherlands: A Numerical Study. Transport in Porus Media. 43, 137-158.
Peltzer, P., Lajmanovich, R.C., Sánchez-Hernández, J.C., Cabagna, M.C., Attedemo, A.M., Bassó,
A., 2008. Effects of agricultural pond eutrophication on survival and health status of Scinas
nasicus tadpoles. Ecotox. and Env. Safety 70, 185-197.
Pinkney, J., Paerl, H.W., Bebout, P.M., 1995. Salinity control of benthic microbial mat community
production in a Bahamian hypersaline lagoon. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and
Ecology . 187, 223–237.
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C.P., 2005. Effects of eutrophication on bottom habitat and prey resources on demersal fishes.
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Robledano, F., Calvo, J.F., Esteve, M.A., Mas, J., Palazón, J.A., Suárez, M.L., Torres, A., VidalAbarca, M.R., Ramírez-Díaz, L., 1991. Estudios ecológicos de los humedales costeros del
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153-163.
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Valéncia. Limnetica, 3 (2), 227-242.
Vandenbohede, A., Lebbe, L., Gysens, S., Delecluyse, K., DeWolf, P., 2008. Salt water infiltration
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82
Protection of rivers and lakes
Emmanuel Kafui Abu-Danso
University of Eastern Finland, Department of Environmental Science, email:
[email protected]
Abstract
Rivers and lakes have experienced serious degradation through time because of rapid urbanization
and population growth in all countries and the protection of these networks requires the integration
of evaluation with ecology and economics. Most of these water bodies are within catchments areas
whose stressed status is a result of human activities including unbridled farming or agricultural
activities, development from tourists site construction, road construction, human settlement, dams,
or extractive uses from irrigation or consumption. This review focuses on the many challenges
faced by rivers and lakes and efforts to protect them from degradation and eventual death and also
maintain and improve the ecosystem services they provide. In this review different geographical
locations and the different models adopted to mitigate the negative impacts of stressed rivers and
lakes are discussed and the status quo of modern challenges faced by rivers and lakes appears to be
the same regardless of the geographical location although some peculiar challenges appear to be
specific to that region. The models adopted to mitigate the challenges were varied with some
requiring high operational cost.
Introduction
Water is the basis of life and probably the most essential requirement for economic growth and
social development most important is the fact that freshwater ecosystems offer important cultural
and recreational resources for human populations around the world (Asaeda et al., 2011). Water
bodies are general feature of landscapes in nature (Shang et al., 2012); and they exist as channels
that may cross national boundaries and various degrees of depressions within the earth’s surface as
with Lake Victoria which is shared by three countries: Kenya (6%), Uganda (45%), and Tanzania
(49%) (Wang et al., 2012a). They provide a special suite of goods and services valued highly by the
public that are inextricably linked to their flow dynamics and the interaction of flow with the
landscape (Palmer et al., 2008).
Water bodies meet people’s daily needs such as consumption, irrigation in farming, fish farming
and wild fish breeding grounds, protection against floods, energy generation, and industrial
development. They even furnish an extraordinary regional environmental and cultural landform,
scenic spots etc which form the basis for attraction (Shang et al., 2012). Over 70% of the earth`s
surface is covered with water but freshwater resources accessible for direct use account for less than
1% and this is water found in lakes reservoirs rivers and streams, underground aquifers that are
shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost (Asaeda et al., 2011). This places fresh water
bodies in a very peculiar kind of situation where it will have to be protected in order to ensure
continuous availability of water and services it provides.
Currently most rivers and lakes are facing challenges associated with changing times. The pollution
of most water bodies has reached a level at which the water quality cannot meet the functions
required of them (Wang et al., 2006). In particular, millions of people supplied drinking water by
the fresh water bodies may have been exposed to health hazards due to deteriorated water. To
ameliorate the challenges faced by water bodies, there is the need to consider all factors that
contribute to the problems faced by the aquatic body since in addition to the cumulative impacts of
83
land use on water quality from upstream catchments and tributaries, there are additional direct
threats to the ecological integrity of large rivers and lakes from cities and industry such as levees
and channelization, dredging, and turbulence from shipping etc. (Leigh and Gippel, 2011).
Nutrients from upstream agriculture and point source discharges of city effluent, cause algal blooms
and the loss of amenity and recreational values, as well as threats to drinking water security and it
will be necessary that such nutrients are identified. Leigh and Gippel, (2011), have reported that
turbidity from diffuse sources upstream and compounded by urban run-off and turbulence from
dredging and shipping will influence the growth of algae and other aquatic plants. This is also likely
to impact on primary productivity hence an effect on food web characteristics. The effects of
multiple stressors, including non-point source pollution, on ecological integrity tend to accumulate
from upstream to downstream, and can combine in large systems such that determining the
individual sources of these effects becomes difficult (Blocksom and Flotemersch, 2005).
Assessment of condition and ecological health in freshwaters have been practiced across the globe
for many years although the approaches to assessment may have their own goal and therefore
skewed towards that (Johnson et al., 1995).
Scope of review
This review was to identify current or modern challenges faced by rivers and lakes in different
geographical locations and assess general plans for water protection to guarantee a good chemical
and ecological status of these water bodies.
Modern/recent challenges of rivers and lakes
Human activities in recent past are changing the flow of water and also interact with the
hydrological cycle and the magnitude of these changes depends on the dynamics of where that
water body is located or is area specific. In under developed countries, people have used water
mainly from rivers, lakes and lagoons as a convenient sink into which to dump waste from either
point or nonpoint source originating from mainly domestic sectors (Asaeda et al., 2011).
In most of these areas, there are no sanitation systems due to lack of financial resources. Therefore
to support the local residents, more and more industries and agricultural activities have been
developed. However, in these areas as a result of lack of investment and appropriate wastewater
treatment technologies a situation has resulted in most of the industrial effluent discharging into
water bodies without sufficient treatment (Wang et al., 2012a).
Liu et al., (2004) have reported that the annual worldwide rate of reservoir storage capacity lost to
sedimentation is 0.5 % –1.9 %. The known factor for sedimentation of inland water bodies is the
removal of vegetation leaving the land bare from practices such as unbridled deforestation and
commercial farming that needs the clearing of very large tracts of forest.
In Bangladesh, as a result of high speed water flow over sandy river bank (from poor vegetation
cover) in the rainy season has resulted in perennial flooding causing destruction of properties
(Uchida and Ando, 2011). This part of the world is known to be a low lying region hence very
prone to flooding but suffers issues of deforestation and fields for rice farming.
In China, rapid urbanization and industrialization after the 1980s has reshaped the landscape in both
urban and suburban areas, and consequently, the Chinese river network has suffered extensive
destruction and during the same period, the number and length of rivers have decreased and the
84
richness of the structure and development of tributaries has been limited (Shang et al., 2012). Cao
(2012) reports of increasing threats of Fuxian Lake basin, after the tourism development of the
regional ecological environment choose Fuxian Lake of Yuxi as one of the four pilot regions of
comprehensive reform in Yunnan region of the Republic of China because of better conditions for
construction.
Lake Onega in Russia has received some amount of pollution from wastewaters of forest industry
starting from the middle of the last century. In addition increased drainage and storm waters coming
from large cities Petrozavodsk and Kondopoga have local influence on water quality of the lake as a
result of the paper pulp production, wood processing, machinery and food processing industries
sited within its catchment (Bilaletdin et al., 2011). Biologically treated wastewater which comes
from municipal waste water treatment plant is being discharged into Petrozavodsk Bay. This has
caused noticeable pollution of Petrozavodsk Bay due to increased nutrient loading leading to the
phenomenon of eutrophication, intensive development of blue green algae (up to 1 million
cells/litre, with the BOD of 0.4 g/m3). The pollution has in recent years been observed during the
summer months in Petrozavodsk Bay. This situation in the same report is known to be pronouncing
during spring and autumn floods.
The issues on poor governance concerning laws on water bodies on the basis of non-implementation
of existing laws to protect it or non-existence of adequate protective laws as well as low levels of
public awareness on negative activities which affect water bodies has been reported by (Wang et
al., 2012b).
Categories of stress
Indicators of stress on water bodies (lakes and rivers) may be expressed in different forms as
reported by (Leigh and Gippel, 2011). For the purposes of this review physical and biological
indicators will be used.
Hydrology of large rivers
Hydrology is an important driver of river health. It is often impaired in rivers due to their use for
irrigation water supply, the presence of regulating dams upstream, the existence of water diversions
(for town, industry and agricultural use), and the existence of weirs (for hydropower production, to
allow convenient gravity diversion, or to create water ponds for its amenity value) (Poff et al.,
1997; Bunn and Arthington, 2002). The guiding principles of monitoring hydrology for river health
assessment are the same regardless of the size of the river (Gippel et al., 2011).
Large rivers in China are often impacted by the presence of weirs according to (Leigh and Gippel,
2011). In rivers with many closely spaced weirs, the biggest change to the environment may not be
the change in hydrology. The change in hydraulics is converting a river to a series of weir pools
with a stepped water surface profile and increased depth, reduced velocity, and reduced variation in
depth and velocity along and across the river. Alternatively, if weirs are used for hydropower
production, the regime is characterized by rapid discharge and water level fluctuations. In this
situation, rate of rise and fall in water level will be an important hydrological indicator.
According to Allanson (2004) the impoundment of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe resulting in the
creation of Lake Kariba. This was associated with the consequence of an explosive growth of the
“Kariba weed” Salvina molesta largely stemming from the eutrophication effects following the
inundation of large tracts of vegetation. The bloom of the “Kariba weed” occurred as a result in the
85
disturbance of the hydrology of the river. Blooms of this nature has cited as enhancing silting of
lakes and rivers leading to their death.
Rivers have also suffered physical stress through the depletion of river flows by excessive
withdrawals which fundamentally alter aquatic ecosystems because it reduces the quantity of habitat
available, and alters the temperature and chemistry particularly during low-flow periods (Poff et al.,
1997).
Hydrology of lakes and reservoirs
According to Leigh and Gippel (2011) the hydrology of lakes, wetlands and reservoirs is usually
expressed in terms of the pattern of water levels through time. An important indicator is the
duration and timing of the level of the water surface relative to certain ranges, with this water level
ranges having some independently defined ecological relevance.
When a lakes hydrology is used in determining its ecological health (such as occurs in water bodies
that stratify) it may be necessary to monitor the hydrodynamic conditions. Normally this would be
done only in cases where the hydrodynamics were under management control (Blukacz et al.,
2009). Typical are cases where it could be the case that inflows, outflows or water levels could be
adjusted to achieve certain hydrodynamic conditions that were associated with known ecological
outcomes. This knowledge perhaps is an outcome of the health monitoring program.
In general, climate change has also been identified as having negative effect on lakes and rivers, the
caveat however is the future condition of a river in the face of climate change requires explicit
consideration of two things: where the river sits on the globe with respect to its climate, hydrology
and ecology; and how human activities affect the river and its ecosystems as reported by Palmer et
al. (2009). A contrary view on human impacts in aiding the degradation of a water body through
climate change is expressed by Kleinen and Pedschel-Held (2007). They reported that even if
human impacts are small at present, unless the water body is within a fully protected basin, impacts
associated with human activities are likely to become issues in the future and thus, climate change
and other potential stressors must be considered simultaneously.
Biological indicators of pressures
Biological indicators have been used to assess the ecological condition of water bodies around the
world including the North America (Flotemersch et al., 2006) and in Europe (Noble et al., 2007)
and more recently in China (Leigh et al., 2011). To further emphasize the importance of using bio
indicators as stress parameters, four methods of sampling diatoms from rivers in the Ohio River
basin, USA, were compared by Lane et al., (2007) on the basis of sampling effort and response to
disturbance gradients. The methods consisted of three studies of periphyton from the littoral zone
using multiple collections from multiple substrata, and one method that collected phytoplankton
using three grab samples of water, although the metrics calculated from all four methods appeared
to show a response to the eutrophication gradient identified. The study, the phytoplankton method
required the least sampling effort and was considered a suitable alternative to the more field intense
periphyton sampling methods (Lane et al., 2007).
Biological stress found during Deep Creek Lake Watershed Characterization included poor
epifaunal substrate, poor in-stream habitat, and poor riffle/run quality that could be interpreted as
resulting from excess sediment loading more likely reflect the occurrence of fine sediment due to
the dominance of low gradient streams in the watershed USEPA, (2010). Van Sickle and Paulsen
86
(2008) reported of less availability of productive substrate resulting in decreases or inhibition of
colonization by benthic macro invertebrates as an indicator of biological stress. Algae blooms have
been reported by Wang et al. (2006) as biological indicator of stress occurring frequently in two
northern parts of Lake Taihu especially in WuLi Lake and Meiliang Lake.
The non-survival of riverine insects with adult flying stages that require vegetated corridors for
dispersal is evidence of biologically stressed water body arising from vegetation loss or changes in
composition of vegetation as the habitat of these riverside insects become disturbed (Allan and
Flecker, 1993).
Loss of species from water bodies has also been categorized by Palmer et al. (2009) as signature of
biological stress which is faced by water bodies. Stresses by water bodies whether physical,
chemical or biological could be as a result of one of the category or combination of any of the
categories of stress. That is, a biological stress identified in a water body could be as a result of the
combination of physical and chemical stress dynamics.
Effects of pressure on lakes and rivers
Demands for water and rapid deterioration of water quality threaten water biodiversity and these
threats are entrenched in mostly densely populated areas with varied forms of development. Stress
on water bodies can be identified in varied forms since the geographical location and ecosystem
requirements vary.
Reported changes in the catchments or watershed dynamics of water bodies coupled with the
progressive defoliation of river catchments by either agricultural or urban development leads
inexorably to erosion and the transfer of sediments into river beds and estuaries (Allanson, 2004).
The persistence of this phenomenon is the result of unpleasant odours from water bodies as well as
the general decline in the aesthetic value and could result in eventual death of the water body. A
dense growth of water hyacinth making any form of navigation impossible was discovered in
Hartbeespoort Dam in East Pretoria and attributed to hypereutrophy development due to frequent
and sustained nutrient loading from adjoining streams by (Allanson et al., 1990). The effect of
impoundments of rivers on the chemical quality of their waters has almost without exception led to
important changes both within the reservoir and downstream particularly with respect to
eutrophication (Allanson, 2004).
Current remedial measures
In view of this situation, water environmental protection has been a high priority issue for some
governments and other non-governmental institutions at all levels. Many actions regarding the
protect ion of rivers and lakes have been taken during the past decade, requiring a great deal of
financial and human resources. These measures are a result of findings from particularly researchers
across different geographical locations who have suggested various ways to curb the phenomenon
of deteriorating rivers and lakes since the problems are most often localized. Shang et al. (2012)
suggest the use of contingent valuation method (CVM), which explores individuals’ willingness to
pay (WTP) for social-ecological service function of river networks and their value in Shanghai. It
further examines residents’ awareness of the value of the river network, sought their attitudes
toward the current status. This CVM was extensively developed throughout the 1970s and 1980s
and finally received a major endorsement when the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) proposed the first federal government guidelines for the use of the method
in environmental policy analysis (Arrow et al. 1993).
87
The JSRDE (Joint study on rural development experiment) funded by JICA (Japan International
Cooperation Agency) is cost intensive program which has been employed in Bangladesh (Uchida
and Ando, 2011) to arrest the frequent incidence of river bank erosion that has constantly ravaged
livelihoods in Bangladesh and caused a decline in the general wellbeing of the people in rural
Bangladesh.
The same program involves the construction of palisades using local technology to protect river
banks from eroding suggest good governance is absolutely significant in the protection of Lake
Victoria in Kenya. The good governance aspect which must encompass a comprehensive system to
establish and implement strict rules and regulations for the control of wastewater as well as a master
planning of cities and towns along the shores of Lake Victoria should be carefully schemed.
Following such remedial measure is likely to reduce both point and non-point source of pollution
and will also make education in the form of public awareness on the status of the water body
effective enough to make people in direct or indirect contact with the water body be aware of their
actions and inactions and its implications.
Water Framework Directive (WFD), Directive 2000/60/EC which includes the main guidelines on
organizing water management within the EU member states is another remedial measure according
to Bilaletdin et al. (2011) to protect rivers and lakes. It is created by the EU but it is adopted in
places such as Russia due to its feasibility in implementation.
From the WFD, Bilaletdin et al. (2011) adopted AQUATOX (Aquatic Toxicity, simulation model
for aquatic systems) which is modelled following the work of Park and Clough (2006), to predict
the fate of various pollutants, such as nutrients and organic chemicals, and their impacts on the
ecosystem, including fish, invertebrates, and aquatic plants by simulating the transfer of biomass,
energy and chemicals from one compartment of the ecosystem to another. This was used to assess
Lake Onega by Bilaletdin et al. (2011) and to present steady state and dynamic modelling approach
in order to assess the impacts of different loading scenarios of water quality of Lake Onega.
Practical approaches in the exploitation of the catchments or watersheds of rivers and lake have also
been suggested by Bowmer (2011) who studied Stubble Farming (minimum tillage and zero tillage)
in Australia over several decades. The result was that stubble farming improved productivity,
landscape stability and environmental benefit including ecosystem services downstream. The other
benefits such as reduction in sediment load and suspended particles (turbidity) through reduction of
hill slope erosion and retention of water in the landscape were also reported by Bowmer (2011).
From the environmental economics point of view, Cao (2012) proposes Payment for Environmental
Services (PES) which is adopted from “The concept of externality” aims at establishing economic,
social and environmental sustainable development through conservation-based, appropriate
development, to develop and promote the protection in the plateau lakes. The concept was applied
during the tourism development of Fuxian Lake basin. The concept of cost sharing and reward for
best practices in watershed exploitation has received a developed model as reported by Dupont
(2010). This model is design to build cost-sharing incentive programs whereby farmers are
reimbursed for some portion of out-of-pocket expenses when they voluntarily adopt Best
Management Practices stemming from a special concern of contamination of source water by
agricultural activities.
88
These recent approaches are conscious efforts by stakeholders in water protection circles to ensure
the survival of lakes and rivers to maintain the ecosystem balance.
Conclusions
Rivers are inherently dynamic systems in their native state they are constantly adjusting to changes
in sediment and water inputs by laterally migrating across the landscape and by changing the depth,
width and sinuosity of their channels. These changes are part of a healthy river’s response to
changes in the landscape and the climate regime. However recent findings from investigations into
current status of rivers and lakes have revealed that rivers and lakes are undergoing changes which
have been influenced by activities of modern day means of survival.
A consequence of human impact mainly as domestic wastewater, establishments such as pulp and
paper mill and agricultural activities on lakes and rivers is a rise in its nutrient status and activities
are the main eutrophying agents of lakes and rivers.
In the coming years, the governments should begin to shift the target of protection from the simple
improvement of water quality to the integrated restoration of the entire water bodies, including its
structure and connectivity. Studies have shown that a large proportion of local residents are willing
to pay for river network improvement and protection, thus, economic policy is identified as a
flexible instrument for river network management.
Improvement in water quality has been achieved after the development of pollution control projects
over the past few decades.
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Asaeda, T., Jagath, M., Tilak, P., Bae, K. P., 2011. Problems, restoration and conservation of lakes.
Oceans and aquatic ecosystems vol. 1 UNESCO ECOLS SAMPLE CHAPTERS.
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Protection Plan of Lake Onega in Russia Water Resources Management, 25 (12), 2919-2930.
Blocksom, K., Flotemersch, J., 2005. Comparison of macroinvertebrate sampling methods for
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Blukacz, E. A., Shuter, B. J., Sprules, W. G., 2009. Towards understanding the relationship between
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Bowmer, K. H., 2011. Water resource protection in Australia: Links between land use and river
health with a focus on stubble farming systems Journal of Hydrology, 403 (1-2), 176-185.
Bunn, S. E., Arthington, A. H., 2002. Basic principles and ecological consequences of altered flow
regimes for aquatic biodiversity. Environmental Management 30,492-507.
Cao, H., 2012. The analysis on coordination mechanism of plateau lakes protection and
development based on the theory of externality Proceeding of 2012 International Conference
on Information Management, Innovation Management and Industrial Engineering, ICIII 2012,
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River's Rural Water Quality Program Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 58 (4),
481-496.
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Gippel, C. J., Zhang, Y., Qu, X., Kong, W., Bond, N. R., Jiang, X., Liu, W. 2011. River health
assessment in China: comparison and development of indicators of hydrological health.
ACEDP Technical Report 4. Australia-China Environment Development Partnership, River
Health and Environmental Flow in China. The Chinese Research Academy of Environmental
Sciences, the Pearl River Water Resources Commission and the International WaterCentre,
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river ecology. Bioscience 45, 134–141.
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91
Water problems in West Africa
G. Isaac Adesanoye
Department of Environmental Science, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus.
[email protected]
Abstract
West Africa countries have very serious water related problems. Waterborne diseases cause death
cases of people especially children due to a lack of access to sanitation facilities, together with
inadequate availability of safe and clean drinking water. This water problem is largely caused by
pollution, climate change, population growth, lack of modern water distribution network, lack of
funding, inability to adequately exploit natural water resources and so on.
The major source of natural water resources in the region include; surface and ground waters and
also precipitation in form of rainfall. Unfortunately, sometimes there is no ground water in many
areas and safe of available surface water is questionable, and there is no centralized water work
making safe drinking water and sanitation system to treat waste water. There might also be
prolonged period of dryness or drought. This trio had compounded the water problems, and now
most West Africa countries are facing the threat of water scarcity in spite of the fact the
precipitation is rich in many areas in West Africa. There is a need for West Africa to productively
and effectively utilize wisely her water resources in order to be able to distribute safe and clean
drinking water in time and space in relation to man’s need, and to avert the looming water scarcity
foretold by experts.
Introduction
The fact remains that West Africa countries are all struggling with some of the most challenging
water and sanitation problems in the world. Six western African countries are expected to
experience water scarcity by 2025, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, and Nigeria
(Hopkins 1998). Three out of four Liberians have no access to safe drinking water, and six out of
seven have no access to sanitation facilities (OXFAM, 2010).
In Makurdi, the capital of Benue state, only about 25-30% of the population is served by a
crumbling network and inhabitants fetch water in buckets from the polluted Benue River
(Wikipedia, 2012). The problem is particularly dire in Ghana where diarrhoea causes 25% of all
deaths of children below the age of five years. The figure is even higher in Northern Ghana where
about half the population gets water from wells, ponds, and streams that often contain disease
causing microorganisms (UNICEF, 2010). The situation in Mauritania and Mali could be best
described as critical.
Even though major parts of West Africa are richly supplied with natural water resources in form of
lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, and precipitation, yet the problem to meet the demands of the people
in terms of access to safe and clean drinking water persisted. This problem is a combination of
many factors including pollution, climate change, population growth, lack of modern water
distribution network, political, lack of funding, and territorial problems have been behind poor
distribution of safe and clean drinking water in time and space in relation to man’s need. However,
solutions to these problems will be presented, and it therefore becomes imperative to sustainability
92
manage West Africa’s natural water resources in an effort to alleviate water related problems in this
region.
The West Africa Countries
Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of West Africa includes sixteen countries distributed
over an area of approximately 5 million km2. These countries include Mauritania, Mali, and Niger
to the north, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone to the east, Nigeria, Benin,
and Togo to the west, Ghana, Liberia, and Cote D’Ivoire to the south, and Burkina Faso centrally.
It lies on the north-south axis close to 100E. The Western region of Africa is bounded in the north
by Sahel, in the south and west by the Atlantic Ocean. The eastern border is less precise with some
placing it at the Benue Trough, and others on a line running from Mount Cameroon to Lake Chad
(Wikipedia 2012).
Figure1. The map of West Africa http//mapsofworld.com
93
Water Resources in West Africa
There are two major sources of natural water resources in West Africa namely: surface water and
groundwater, although there is also precipitation in form of rainfall but it varies throughout the
region. For example, countries like Mali, Mauritania, and Niger experiences drought but those in
the wetter coastal belt, for example Liberia and Guinea are periodically affected by flood.
With the exception of Cape Verde, all the other West African countries share surface water
resources with one or more other countries. The sub-region is drained by three major river basin
systems. The Niger River basin drains an area of 2 million km2 (33% of the total surface area of the
sub-region), and involves 9 of the 16 sub-regional countries, including Cameroon and Chad. Other
important river basins are: the Senegal basin, shared by four countries; the Gambia basin, shared by
three countries; the Bandama basin in Côte d’Ivoire; the Comoe basin, shared by four countries; and
the Volta River basin, shared by five countries.
The sub-region’s freshwater resources are unevenly distributed between countries so that some
countries are water-rich and some are water-poor. Liberia, for example, has internal renewable
water resources of more than 63 000 m3/capita/yr, but Mauritania has only150 m3/capita/year
(UNDP2000).
Three major types of groundwater aquifers are observed in the region, namely: basement aquifers;
deep coastal sedimentary aquifers; and superficial aquifers. The availability of groundwater varies
considerably from one type of substrate to another, and according to the local levels of precipitation
and infiltration, which determine the actual recharge. In Mauritania, for example, internal renewable
groundwater resources are estimated at 0.3 km3/yr (FAOSTAT 1997), and these are important
sources of water for domestic use, irrigation and livestock watering. About 400 000 people live in
the 218 oases, and are dependent on 31 400 wells, extracting the water manually (FAOSTAT 1997).
The water is used to irrigate 4 751 ha of palm trees, with 244 ha of annual crops under them
(FAOSTAT 1997)
Figure 2. Surface water as a lake (left) and river (right)
94
Figure 3. A rich rain (left) and a well made of local materials.
Causes of water problems in West Africa
Several factors have contributed to the rising levels of water scarcity and associated problems in the
west of Africa. These factors include but not limited to pollution, climate change, population
growth, inadequate planning and management of the water resources, lack of modern water
distribution network, and there is also the problem of lack of necessary funding required getting the
water to places where it is most needed. Although, there should be sufficient water in the wetter
coastal belts but the lack of consistent and deliberate exploitation of the water resources make for
poor water quality, limiting the availability of water supply in these regions.
Pollution
Waste and sewage disposal, agricultural run-offs, and industrial effluents appear to be the major
source of biological and chemical pollutant to surface and groundwater. The conventional
municipal solid waste management which is based on collection and disposal of waste has failed to
provide effective and efficient services to most West Africa countries.
The sewage system services only a small portion of the population, and most of the sewages
discharge untreated into natural water ways. For example in Accra, Ghana only 11% of the 1.4
million residents benefit from home waste collection, while the remaining 89% dispose of their
waste at community dumps, in open spaces, in water bodies, and in storm drainage channels
(Songsore 1992). Waste dumped into storm drainage channels, creeks, lagoons and other water
impoundment points create serious environmental problems which can escalate into disastrous flood
situations. The devastation of lives and property which occurred due to the 1982 floods in Ibadan,
Lagos, Port Harcourt and Aba in Nigeria (Kinako 1979; Filani and Abumere 1992) and in 1995
Accra, Ghana (Daily Graphic, July 5, 1995) were attributed partly to an accumulation of refuse
which blocked these cities' drainage channels.
This problem is compounded because most industries and agricultural farmlands are located close
to coastal areas. For example, most of the industries in Ivory Coast are located in the coastal area,
mainly around Abidjan, where they contribute significantly to increase the amount of pollution
loads. Most of them produce wastes that are similar in composition to human discharges or are at
least amenable to biological treatment. There are in fact several breweries, wine-bottling plants, soft
drink industry, a palm oil refinery, a vegetable canning industry and an abattoir. A petroleum
95
refinery and several textile industries there can also be considered as discharging organic wastes
(Colcanap and Dufour, 1982).
The Nigerian Vanguard Newspaper dated July 10, 2012 reported that no fewer than five children
died at Foutorugbene 1, 2, 3 and Apodubigha communities in Ekeremor Local Government of
Bayelsa state in Nigeria. This was due to an oil spill that allegedly polluted the river, which is the
source of drinking water to the people. Also, a release by WACAM (Wassa Association of
Communities Affected by Mining 2010) published in General News dated March 21, 2010 to the
effect of mining operations on water quality in certain mining communities around Obuasi and
Tarkwa Ghana. According to the tests about 250 rivers have been polluted by cyanide and heavy
metals, and six rivers have also been destroyed around Dumase.
Figure 4. Water pollution caused by industrial activity. Left the oil spill in Bayelsa State, Nigeria
and right cyanide spill in Ahafo, Ghana.
Climate Change
Generally, Africa has been affected by global warming. For example temperatures have increased
more than 0.7oC across Niger with typical rates of warming greater than 0.15oC per decade
(USAID, 2012). The rising temperatures have contributed significantly to dry weather which
usually results in severe drought.
Drought reduces the amount of available drinking water. Severe drought is mostly experienced by
the West African countries in the Sahel region. This region includes most of the countries of
Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso extending from approximately 14oN to 18oN. It
is an ecological zone of climate and vegetation which represents a transition between the desert and
more humid savannah to the south.
The mean annual rainfall is now about 100-200 mm in the north, and about 500-600 mm in its
southern part of West Africa. The rains are considerable less effective because the rainy season is
very short, and the rainfall is erratic in both time and location. The few showers which can occur are
often confined to areas on the order of tens of kilometres in size, so that in a given season the
distribution of rainfall is quite patchy (Sharon, 1995). Most lakes in this region have dried or nearly
dried out due to continuous drought. In most cases the available lakes are far from the villagers, and
people have to trek several kilometres carrying pots on their head. In addition, the water fetched
96
may be contaminated and there is a problem obtaining good drinking water, and this has resulted to
death.
Population Growth
The 15 states of the West Africa sub-region, with a population of approximately 250 million people,
cover an area of roughly 5 million km². With an average annual population growth rate of 3%, it is
forecast that the sub-region’s population will reach 430 million by 2020 (UN, 2011).
Table 1. The UN estimates for population and its increase in West African Countries
Country
July, 2012.
Population
Average Relative.
Annual growth %
Estimated doubling
time (Years)
Nigeria
166,629,000
2.56
27
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Burkina Faso
25,546,000
20,595,000
17,482,000
2.32
2.19
3.03
30
32
23
Niger
Mali
Senegal
Guinea
Benin
Togo
Sierra Leone
16,644,000
16,319,000
13,108,000
10,481,000
9,352,000
6,283,000
6,126,000
3.58
3.02
2.66
2.53
2.77
2.08
2.15
20
23
26
28
25
34
33
Liberia
Mauritania
Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
4,245,000
3,623,000
1,825,000
1,580,000
2.81
2.29
2.76
2.13
25
31
25
33
The population growth rate across West Africa is critically surprising. Niger has a population of
about 16.5 million people with annual growth rate of 3.6% and a total fertility rate of 7.6 births per
woman, the highest fertility rate in the world! (CIA, 2011). In spite of the high fertility Niger has
only the second highest population growth rate in the world due to high rate in mortality. The
growth rates will double the populations in every 20 years.
Between 1990 and 2010, the population of Nigeria increased by 77 % with the largest increases in
population occurring in Maradi (2 million), Zinder (1.6 million), and Tahoua (1.6 million) USAID,
2012), between 2000 - 2010. Burkina Faso maintained an average growth rate of over five % per
annum, and IMF estimated the annual growth rate for 2012 at seven % (IMF 2012). Nigeria is the
most populous country in Africa accounting for approximately one-sixth of African population with
a current population in excess of 170 million (2012) and a growth rate of more than 2 % per annum
or a doubling time of about 30 years (Wikipedia 2012).
According to the United Nations, the population of Nigeria will reach 390 million by 2050. In 2100,
the population of Nigeria will reach 730 million. According to the United States Census Bureau, the
97
population of Nigeria will reach 402 million by 2050. Nigeria will then be the 4th most populous
country in the world! Unfortunately, this rapid population expansion of western Africa countries
will place increasing stress on access to safe and clean drinking water in the region.
Figure 5. UN estimate for the population growth in some countries from 2010-2015
Lack of Modern Water Distribution Network
Most countries in western Africa do not have access to good water distribution channels. For
example, boreholes would have been the solution to meet the water needs of most West Africa
village dwellers, but the villagers can’t afford the pumps, or the necessary equipments to have the
boreholes drilled. In cases where the government is ready to build water treatment plants and
pumps, there is lack of integrity. For example, in 2008 in Markurdi, the capital of Benue State in
Nigeria, the construction of a water treatment plant was left unfinished and officials were unable to
account for USD 6 million (Wikipedia).
The inhabitants fetch raw water in buckets and pots from the polluted Benue River and carry them
on their head trekking for several miles. Moreover, where these treatment plants are available, there
is often contamination in the distribution network, and sometimes people disrupt the tap water
quality. For example, the water treatment plant that was built in Lagos state in Iju on River Ogun
and Ishashi on River Owo were been contaminated by the people.
Electricity supply interruptions prevent plants from operating continuously. For example, the World
Bank reported that in Nigeria in 2010 water production facilities were rarely operated to capacity
98
due to broken down equipment or lack of power or fuel for pumping, and the operating cost of
water agencies needed to rely on diesel generators. This led to poor maintenance of equipment and
pipes, leading to intermittent supply of non-revenue water.
Solutions and Conclusion
Presently, the high incidence of water borne diseases in most rural areas of West Africa is attributed
to the use of contaminated surface and ground waters. The need then arises for a productive
exploitation of surface and ground waters by means of a large, centralized water filtration and
sanitation systems.
More dams could be built in areas that are drained by large rivers to conserve and store water which
could be used during the dry seasons to ensure continuous supply of water throughout the year most
especially in the Sahel region of West Africa. Mining operations and related activities render water
unsafe for drinking and for other domestic uses, and it threatens the health security of mining
communities because it releases cyanide and other heavy metals into rivers and water bodies for a
very long period.
Hence regulatory agencies should be established and they should be proactive in preventing
pollution of rivers by mining activities and to provide timely information on pollution of water
bodies to affected communities. Furthermore, industrial effluents and sewages should be treated or
recycled and not released into water bodies. Since, the general public also contributes to water
pollution by dumping refuse in water bodies, public information programs should be organized to
educate people on the adverse effects of water pollution and on measures to control pollution. A
training program should also be embarked upon to produce the necessary skilled manpower in the
field of water resources.
The Global Water Partnership West Africa is working with Basin organizations such as the Niger
Basin Authority, Volta Basin Authority to strengthen transboundary cooperation over water
resources management. The effort of The United Nations Environment Program to improve water
management and governance in West Africa is also praiseworthy. In 2010, with the support of the
EU water facility and the Norwegian government, the program assisted about seven West African
countries including Liberia, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, Togo, and
Cote D’Ivoire. Presently, the water situation in Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Ghana, and other
Western Africa countries still demands for serious attention and improvement.
Perhaps the greatest cause of West Africa's problem of a lack of water is that the continent cannot
effectively utilize its resources.
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100
Methods to identify and detect microbial contaminants in drinking water
Thomas Agyei
Department of Environmental Science, University of Eastern Finland, P. O. Box 1627, F1-70211
Kuopio, Finland, E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
Identification of enteric microbial indicators or pathogens is the only reliable way to know if
drinking water is safe for use, since you cannot see, taste, or smell the pathogen microorganisms in
water. The most basic test for microbial contamination of a water supply is to test the presence of
total coliform bacteria. Total coliforms are not a real indicator of faecal contamination or of a health
risk, but they provide basic information on the relative quality of the delivered water compared to
the source and treated water supplies. Throughout the last 140 years pathogenic microbes in
drinking water supply have focused testing enteric bacteria of human faecal origin. Drinking water
is, worldwide, the most significant single source of gastro-enteric diseases and one of the major
causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, because of the faecally contaminated raw water,
failures in the water treatment process or recontamination of treated drinking water. Ideally,
drinking water should not contain any microorganisms known to be pathogenic or indicating faecal
pollution. This review considers the methods to identify and detect microbial contaminants in
drinking water and addresses the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods.
Keywords: microbial contamination, E. coli, total coliforms, enteric bacteria, faecal contamination
Introduction
Water remains as a basic need to human life and health, but over 1 billion people worldwide have
no access to safe drinking water (Peeler et al. 2006). The microbiological quality of drinking water
has now attracted great attention worldwide due to the implied public health impacts. Microbial
pathogens continue to contaminate drinking water supplies and cause waterborne disease outbreaks
regardless of the current regulations designed to prevent and control the spread of microbial
pathogens in public and individual water systems. According to U.S. EPA (2009), the maximum
contaminant level goal (MCLG) for human enteric viruses is zero for any volume of drinking water.
The actual maximum contaminant limit (MCL) is based on water treatment rules requiring
treatment effective for the 99.99% removal or inactivation of enteric viruses from surface water or
groundwater sources under the influence of surface water. The relationships between waterborne
microbes and their human hosts are more complex and are therefore influenced by a variety of
factors involving the characteristics and conditions of the microbe, the human and in some cases
animal hosts, and the environment. Therefore, it seems indispensable to identify, characterize, and
quantify these relationships by many methods in order to determine if a potentially waterborne
microbe should be considered or classified as a drinking water contaminant for possible regulation.
Currently there are two indicators of microbiological drinking water quality that U.S. EPA (2009)
regulates: total coliform and turbidity. Total coliforms are not an indicator of faecal contamination
or of a health risk, rather do provide basic information on the relative quality of the delivered water
compared to the source and treated water supplies. Increases in coliform levels may indicate the
need to modify treatment processes. Identification and detection of total coliforms in drinking water
may be an indication of treatment system failure, regrowth or infiltration in the distribution system,
101
any of which could have serious health implications. Because of this, coliforms continue to be
recognized as acceptable indicators of the efficacy of treatment and disinfection processes
(FPTCDW, 2002). Due to the great diversity of microbial pathogens, current indicators of water
quality may not detect all types of microbial contamination. For instance, some pathogens do not
co-occur with indicators of faecal pollution. Besides, bacterial indicators have greater sensitivity to
disinfection than viruses or protozoan cysts. There is lack of consistency in the correlations between
indicator absence and the absence of pathogens as a result of this sensitivity. In view of this, better
quantitative methods are needs to detect a broad array of microorganisms.
Microbial monitoring and identification is very essential to identify sources of contamination and to
establish the level of treatment necessary to ensure safe drinking water. The molecular era that
emerged in the 1980s resulted in sequence based molecular methods for detecting pathogens in
drinking water. Rapid and more reliable alternative approaches were then developed to allow
microbial identification directly from specimens. The risks posed by various bacteria present in
drinking water differ among the various genera and species as well as within the same genus and
species of a bacterium. These differences in risks to human health pose considerable challenges to
the detection and identification of these bacteria in drinking water. Similar concerns apply to the
following; protozoan parasites, algae, and fungi. Strains of the same genus and species of bacterium
can differ dramatically in their ability to cause disease because this ability is largely dependent on
the presence of virulence factors or properties.
The incidence of coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, and enterococci indicates that either water
treatment of source water is deficient and requires investigation or the water is getting contaminated
during distribution to the end user or consumer. E. coli is considered a specific indicator of faecal
pollution and is always present in the faeces of humans, other mammals, and birds. (Gavini et al.,
1985; Edberg et al., 1988; Bej et al., 1990; Seyfried and Harris, 1990; Godfree et al., 1997;
Baudišovà, 1997; Petit et al., 2000; Regnault et al., 2000; Pennington et al., 2001; Leclerc et al.,
2001; McLellan et al., 2001; Sueiro et al., 2001; Leclercq et al., 2002; Min and Baeumner, 2002;
Doğan-Halkman et al., 2003).
Enterococci species are considered to be a strong indicator of faecal contamination from warmblooded animals and generally thought to be a specific indicator of human faecal pollution. Further
studies have shown that high concentration of E. coli can be found in tropical natural water systems
(Carrillo et al., 1985; Lopez-Torres et al., 1987; Jimenez et al., 1989) but is has been found also in
effluents from pulp and paper mills (Archibald, 2000) without any known sources of faecal
contaminations.
Besides, it is recognized that E. coli may not be suitable as an indicator of some specific enteric
pathogens. However, only a small group of E. coli variants causes disease. The majority of strains
or variants are the natural inhabitants, commensal bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract of warmblooded animals (Salyers and Whitt, 2002). There is always confusion on this, as many members of
the public media discussing about disease outbreaks do not decipher the whole concept and make
the distinction and simply refer to “E. coli” as the cause of the outbreak. The diarrhoea diseasecausing strains or variants in humans can be grouped as belonging to one of six groups:
enteropathogenic (EPEC); enterotoxigenic (ETEC); enteroinvasive (EIEC); enterohemorrhagic
(EHEC); enteroaggregative (EAggEC); and diffusely adherent strains (DAEC) (Tallon et al, 2005).
Bacterial pathogens can cause gastroenteritis such as cramps, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, chills
and mild fever. Table 1 shows some pathogens found in water.
102
Table 1. Some bacterial, viral and parasitic protozoa pathogens found in water. Source
Deininger et al., 2011.
Bacteria
Salmonella
Shigella
Escherichia coli O157:H7
Yersinia
Vibrio
Campylobacter
Legionella
Viruses
Adenovirus
Astroviruses
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis E
Norovirus
Rotaviruses
Protozoa
Acanthamoeba
Cryptosporidium
parvum
Entamoeba histolytica
Microsporidia
Naegleria
In this paper, some methods of identifying and detecting microbes in drinking water are been
considered.
Review of methods to identify and detect microbial contaminants
Various water quality tests are available to identify and detect the number and types of
microorganisms in waters and assist communities in keeping the microbial content of water supplies
at a low level. These tests vary from the more sophisticated and sometimes expensive tests needing
specific equipment to the easy and cheap ones. There are standard procedures that have been used
for decades but there are also very modern methods, too.
Most Probable Number test (MPN)
In this test for total coliforms (MPN), parallel tubes or flasks lactose- broth are inoculated with
water or other samples of 1 L, 100mL, 10 ml, 1 mL, and 0.1 mL or their dilutions. During
incubation, coliform organisms produce gas. Depending upon which tubes from which water
samples display gas, an MPN table or programme is consulted or used and a statistical range of the
number of coliform bacteria is determined. The MPN test is very easy to perform and interpret, but
it does not determine the exact number of bacteria as the standard plate count does. In order to test
for the presence of E. coli in water, a medium called eosin methylene blue (EMB) agar or some
other agar is often used. With this medium, E. coli colonies become green with a metallic
fluorescent sheen. There are also many other novel media which could be used for the test of
presence of E. coli in water.
Advantages of MPN Techniques
Interpretation of the results requires minimal experience and training as results can be got by simply
observing for the presence of gas or no gas. Water samples with high turbidity can be analyzed,
since there is no apparent deleterious effect. Because of the dilutions used in the range of 1:0 or
1:100, or more toxic substances present in the sample can be diluted out. MPN technique is the
effective method for analyzing samples such as muds, sludges, sediments etc.
Disadvantages of MPN Techniques
In MPN the results are probability calculations and cannot be accurate, but false positive results are
of common occurrence.
103
The membrane filter technique.
The Membrane Filter (MF) Technique was an improving to plate count method allowing testing
large volumes of water. The use of this technique leads to the isolation of discrete colonies of
bacteria, whereas the most probable number procedure only indicates the presence or absence of an
approximate number or organisms (indicated by turbidity in test tubes). In this technique there is the
need for filtration apparatus and a sterile cellulose filter called a membrane filter. A 100-mL (or any
other volume) sample of water is passed through the filter, after which the filter pad is then
transferred aseptically to a bacteriological growth medium. Bacteria trapped in the filter will grow
on the medium and form colonies afterwards. When counting the colonies, an estimate can be made
of the number of bacteria in the original 100-mL sample. It is also possible to isolate bacterial
colonies for further tests and to make many confirmation tests.
Advantages of membrane filter technique
The technique permits testing of large sample volumes. It permits isolation and enumeration of
discrete colonies of bacteria may be possible within 24 hours. The method is effective and
acceptable technique. It is used to monitor drinking water in many accredited laboratories.
Gene probe tests
Among the most complex tests for water bacteriology are those that make use of gene probes. Gene
probes are pieces or fragments of DNA that seek out and combine with the corresponding
complementary DNA fragments. Often the test is designed purposely to test for the presence of
Escherichia coli in water. This Gram-negative rod, usually located in the human intestine, is used as
an indicator organism in these tests. If it is present after the test, then it is likely that the water has
been contaminated with human faeces. The faeces may then contain microbial pathogens. To use a
gene probe test for E. coli in water, the water is first treated to disrupt any bacteria present and
release their nucleic acid. A specific E. coli probe is then added to the water. Like a left hand
seeking a right hand, the probe searches through all the nucleic acid in the water and unites with the
E. coli DNA, if it is present. A radioactive signal indicates or signifies that a match has been made.
If no radioactivity is emitted, then the gene probe has not been able to locate its matching DNA, and
E. coli is probably absent from the water.
Immunomagnetic separation (IMS)
Immunomagnetic separation (IMS), also known as immunocapture or antibody capture, is a method
which is applicable to all classes of microbes. This approach uses paramagnetic synthetic beads,
other magnetic or paramagnetic particles, or other solid surfaces (e.g., micro centrifuge tubes and
the wells of microtiter plates) that are coated with antibodies which are directed against the target
microbes to recover the microbes from the sample by antigen-antibody reactions. The retained
microbes can be present and they can be analyzed directly after their components (e.g., their nucleic
acids) have been subsequently released or extracted from the antibody and solid phase by various
physical or chemical methods. It is usually used in conjunction with a selective pre-enrichment step
((LeJeune et al., 2001; Shelton et al., 2004; Fincher et al., 2009) and has been shown to notably
improve recovery of E. coli O157 from a range of matrices (Chapman, 2000). IMS has also been
successfully combined with a number of additional approaches, e.g. electrochemi luminescence
(Wolter et al., 2008), flow cytometry and epifluorescence microscopy (Lemarchand et al., 2001)
and solid-phase laser cytometry (Pyle et al., 1999). All of these techniques allow the rapid
104
quantification of E. coli O157 directly from water samples without the need for a cultureenrichment stage.
Advantage
This method aids in the selecting, separating, and purifying specific target microbes from other
microbes and particles of similar size and shape and as well as from solutes, based on the specificity
of the antigen-antibody reaction.
Disadvantage
One major disadvantage of IMS is the limit of detection of cysts and oocysts per gram of faeces,
largely because the cysts and oocysts are not shed with the faeces on a consistent basis, and their
numbers can vary from day to day.
m-ColiBlue24 method
This method is a single-step membrane filter procedure that simultaneously detects total coliform
and E. coli in just 24 hours. With the m-ColiBlue24 media, an analysis is made to pass the sample
or its dilution through a membrane filter. The filter is then aseptically placed on a pre-packaged
medium and incubated for 24 hours at 36 + 1°C. During incubation, organisms grow and form
colonies, which are counted to determine the actual number of organisms present in the sample. For
the identification, colonies are differentiated easily; red indicates total coliforms and blue indicates
E. coli without an ultraviolet lamp or other special viewing equipment. No confirmatory test is
required to confirm the presence of E. coli, and the test shows a sensitivity of 1 CFU/100mL.
Advantages
No confirmatory test is required. It provides the lowest false positive and false negative counts as
compared to other methods. This test does not require investment in special equipment, sealers or
UV lamps. The tests can be run in the lab.
Colilert (IDEXX, USA) method
Colilert simultaneously identifies and detects total coliforms and E. coli in water. To use this
method the sample directly or its appropriate dilutions are made by using Colilert medium (IDEXX,
USA). Then appropriate weights of Colilert powder (IDEXX) are mixed with appropriate volumes
directly to the sample or its dilution.
Table 2. Comparison of the E. coli and coliform reactions in Colilert test.
Appearance
Results
Less yellow than the comparator
Negative for total coliforms and E. coli
Yellow equal to or greater than the Positive for total coliform
comparator
Yellow and fluorescence equal to or greater Positive for E. coli
than the comparator
105
Sterile distilled water is added to each tube to get the final volume, and they are then mixed well
(colourless after mixing) and incubated at 36±0.5°C for 24 hours or less. For results, a yellow
colour after incubation is considered a positive total coliform test. Florescence under UV
illumination at 366nm is considered E. coli positive (Mannapperuma et al., 2011).
Advantages
Unit-dosed packaging eliminates media preparation. There is no repetition in testing due to clogged
filters or heterotrophic interference. The method detects coliforms and E. coli simultaneously in 24
hours or less and there is no confirmations needed.
It helps in the identification of E. coli specifically by eliminating unnecessary public notification
due to non-target organisms. It gets rid with of the subjective interpretation found in traditional
methods.
Disadvantage
It is not quantitative and it is rather expensive.
Ribotyping
This method uses DNA fingerprinting whereby highly conserved rRNA genes are identified using
oligonucleotide probes after treatment of genomic DNA with restriction endonucleases. It involves
labour-intensive procedure that comprises bacteriological culture and identification, DNA
extraction, gel electrophoresis, Southern blotting and discriminate analysis of the resulting DNA
fingerprints. DNA is first extracted from a colony of bacteria and then restricted into discrete-sized
fragments. The DNA is then transferred to a membrane and probed with a region of the rRNA
operon to reveal the pattern of rRNA genes. The pattern is then recorded, digitized and stored in a
database. It is variations that exist among bacteria in both the position and intensity of rRNA bands
that can be used for their classification and identification. There is a rich selection of databases for
many faecal pathogens including several Escherichia pattern types. An alternate approach involves
using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify quantities of DNA, to obtain large numbers of
copies of small DNA sequences. PCR utilizes thermal cycling to disassociate DNA sequences at
high temperatures, then at low temperatures to use specially designed primers to bracket the
targeted piece of DNA.
A polymerase enzyme allows the primers to extend and copy the DNA sequence. The entire
disassociation-copying process occurs repeatedly, each time duplicating all DNA strands, original
and copies. The advantages of PCR are that it can copy a very small amount of genetic information–
usually a specific region of DNA–through rapid, geometric increases so that the volume of DNA
obtained shoots up dramatically (Hager, 2001). Ribotyping is a very useful method used in
epidemiological technique for use with various bacteria including E. coli, S. enteric, Vibrio cholera
etc. Some new approaches of microbial identification and detection are biochemical tests, carbon
utilization profiles, fatty acid methyl ester and antibiotic analysis (phenotyping methods), pulsedgel electrophoresis (PFGE) (genotypic methods) and microarray based bacterial identification.
Advantages
This method can be used to classify isolates from multiple sources. When performed by a skilled
technician, it is highly reproducible.
106
Disadvantages
Ribotyping is a demanding procedure that requires multiple steps and specialized equipment. Also,
the need for specialized training, high supply costs, and the time required to complete the procedure
are disadvantages.
The database (library) size, geographic distribution of isolated bacteria, and the presence of
replicate isolates in the bacterial source library affect the ability of ribotyping to differentiate among
bacteria at the host-species level (EPA, 2005).
The conventional, manual method for ribotyping has limited usage as it is time consuming and
labour-intensive, requiring sufficient experience and expertise since complex statistical analysis is
often required to determine which sources are likely present. In addition, the lack of standardization
and subjective interpretation leads to a lot of variation among laboratories and technicians, which
decreases the reliability of the tests.
Conclusion
There are many methods used to identify and detect microbial contaminants in drinking water but
some are more reliable and rapid than others. Though some methods may give rapid results,
expertise knowledge and specialized equipment are required. Other methods (e.g. ribotyping) may
be more reproducible than others and even classify isolates from multiple sources but time
consuming and laborious. With these drawbacks, there is no single method rises head and shoulders
above the others. None of these methods is developed to the point where it could be considered a
standard method since one or two of these methods are combined sometimes to give better and
reliable results. To choose a method for identification and detection of enteric microbial pathogens
in drinking water, reliability, rapidity and cost benefits of the method should be taken into
consideration.
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Forest and Water Quality/Quantity in Ghana
John Bright Agyemang
University of Eastern Finland, Department of Environmental Sciences, Email:
[email protected]
Abstract
Water is very vital and significant to both plants, human and animal life. It is therefore very
necessary to address the availability and quality of water to enhance the life of organisms requiring
water for diverse uses. The role of water in alleviating poverty is very relevant and therefore
ensuring the quality and quantity of water towards achieving this goal is a necessity. Forest
management functions among others to conserve biodiversity and carbon sequestration, but several
studies indicate a disputed claim of the role of forest in maintaining water quality and quantity. This
paper focus on how forest and associated activities affect the quality and quantity of water in Ghana
for sustainable development.
Keywords: Sustainable development, associated activities, necessity, biodiversity, carbon
sequestration, availability, quantity, quality.
Introduction
Ghana is located in the centre of the West African Coast and it shares borders with Togo to the east,
Burkina Faso to the north, Cote Divorce to the west and to the south with the Gulf of Guinea and
the Atlantic Ocean. The Greenwich Meridian traverses Tema in Ghana. Mount Afadjato is the
highest elevation in Ghana and rises only 880 meters above sea level
(http://www.photius.com/wfb1999/ghana/ghana_geography.html).
Ghana has a total land area of 238,540 km2 out of which water covers 8,520 km2 with Lake Volta,
which is the world’s largest artificial lake. The natural resources of Ghana include gold, timbre,
industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish and rubber. The land uses are arable land (12 %);
permanent crops (cocoa, palm trees etc.) (7 %), permanent pastures (22 %), forest and woodland
(35 %) and other use (24 %) (http://www.photius.com/wfb1999/ghana/ghana_geography.html).
Ghana belongs to the top ten lists in gold producing and its production is demonstrated to double
annually (www.goldinvetingnews.com).
The country has a hot climate because it is located between latitudes 4° and 12°N, and longitudes
4°W and 2°E. Ghana is geographically closer to the "centre" of the world than any other country
even though the notional centre, (0°, 0°) is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 614 km
south of Accra, Ghana, in the Gulf of Guinea.
Ghana’s population was about 23.9 million people in 2010 (Population census, 2010) with female:
male ratio of 51 %: 49 %. The population growth rate is 1.25 % and a population density is
now78.9 persons/km2. The birth rate is 23.97 births/1,000 and the death rate is 10.84 death/1,000.
The literacy rate and life expectancy are 75 % and 56 %, respectively. The major ethnic groups in
Ghana are Akan 49.1 %; Mole‐Dagomba 16.5 %; Ewes 12.7 %; Ga‐Damgme 8 % and
non‐Ghanaians 3.9 %. The people of Ghana are about 92.1 % Black Africans (World Fact book,
2006).
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Figure 1. Map of Ghana. Source: http://www.theodora.com/maps/new8/ghana.gi
Forest in Ghana
The savanna and tropical high forest covers 66 % and 34% (82,000 km2) respectively of the total
land area of 238,500 km2. The forest cover size of Ghana represents 0.5% of the world's forest
(Hawthorne, 1995). A separate vegetation type is the forest-savanna transition zone (White 1983).
Between 1950 and 1987 there has been a rapid deforestation rate of 0.84% annually. The
deforestation area is highest in mountains (EPA of Ghana, 2004). The forest serves as a major
stronghold of the livelihood of the rural dwellers also through the extraction of on timber forest
products such as honey (Falconer, 1992).
112
The highest environmental challenge is the need to reconcile the contradictory demands of the
stakeholders of the forest resources, since forest plays a significant role in Ghana's economy and a
great number of people continue to rely on these forest resources for subsistence and satisfy their
socio-economic needs (Boon et al, 2007). Loss of forest cover is now a major treat to the quality
and quantity of water resources in Ghana. There is the need therefore for a comprehensive review of
the issue and strategies to minimize if not mitigate the situation.
Forest types in Ghana
There are two main forest vegetation types; tropical high forest and savanna occupying the southeastern and northern portions respectively in Ghana with the widespread of the forest-savanna
transition zone. The forests are now categorization to unreserved forests and government gazetted
reserves of forest. It is estimated that about 55% of the forest zone designated for protection,
conversion and research areas, thereby conforming to the environmental conservation policy of the
country, due to accelerated deforestation. Especially valuable trees such as Ceiba pentandra,
Khaya ivorensis (African mahogany) and Terminalia superba (Ofram) have been cut. Those
domestic trees have partly been replaces with almost 70,000 ha of Tectona grandis (Teak)
plantation and nearly 59,000 ha sited in the high forest whereas secondary vegetation characterizes
the countryside of the unreserved forest zone (Abebrese, 2002). Teak originates from Asia and it is
not used by local people.
According to Odum et al, (2002), forest types in Ghana are wet evergreen forests, moist evergreen
forests, moist semi-deciduous north east forests, moist semi-deciduous south east forests, upland
evergreen forests, dry semi-deciduous inner zone forests, dry semi-deciduous fire zone forests,
south marginal and south outlier forests. The last ones are formed as a result of increased population
and migration mainly in forest areas so that the deforestation rate can be though with 6 % and 11 %,
forest accounted for GDP and export earnings respectively. The national Ghanan forest service
division (FSD) of the forestry commission owns the forest by law but illegal saw operators gain
money from the forest without paying royalties to the people who only benefit from agricultural
land.
State of Ghana’s water resources
The portable water coverage is almost 45 % for rural and 70 % for urban areas. The objective of the
Millennium development goals is to reduce by 50 % the population without access to portable
water. It is expected that the consumptive water demand approaches 5.3 billion m3 of portable water
by the year 2020, but how the water supply systems will be well developed to meet this demand is a
challenge (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=179002).
Precipitation is almost all the recharge to water resources. Annual rainfall of 2240 mm is recorded
in extreme South West but the precipitation reduces to 800 mm in East and South Eastern and rises
to 970 mm at the North Eastern part of Ghana. The two main classifications of freshwater resources
are groundwater and surface water. The major surface water is in the Volta Basin system
comprising of Daka, Oti, Black and White Volta and Lower Volta River. The South Western Basin
system contains the Bia, Tano, Ankobra, and Prarivers where as the Coastal basin system
encompasses Tordzie, Densu, Ayensu, Ochi-Nakwa and Ochi-Amissah rivers. The Lake Bosomtwe
near Kumasi is also a surface water resource.
113
Groundwater is abundant, except certain areas of the Voltaic area have very low economic
quantities. This has been the main source of water supply to rural areas without treated water supply
system (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=179002).
Water management
The entire responsibility of managing the supply of water is the duty of the Ministry of Water
Resources, Works and Housing with institutions such as the water resource commission (WRC), the
water directorate (WD), environmental protection agency (EPA) being responsible for guiding and
coordinating water programmes, protecting and monitoring the sources from pollution
respectively. Treatment and distribution remains the sole responsibility of the Ghana water
company limited in towns. The supply of water in rural areas is the responsibility of the Community
water and sanitation agency (CWSA) and the review and establishment of tariffs and monitoring the
quality of the drinking water is the duty of the Public utilities regulatory commission (PURC)
(http://www.natcomreport.com/ghana/livre/water.pdf).
Water and forest
According to Kerr (2002) 500 million US dollars have been spent on watershed management since
the early 1990s in the whole Ghana with the goal of improving water quality and quantity to
alleviate poverty and forestry is an integral part of the plan (Calder, 2007).
The protection of catchment area by vegetation cover is a requirement for dealing with erosion and
siltation and that the promotion of catchment area protection is the preferred option for maintaining
catchment ecosystem integrity. Catchment area protection is required to control erosion from the
catchment and to reduce both fertility and productivity loss as well as sedimentation and pollution
reduction (Swaine et al., 2006). Distribution and behaviour of aquatic organisms are immensely
affected by the concentration of dissolved oxygen which can vary as a result of plant
photosynthesis, respiration, water temperature, air-water exchange, turbulence, organic
decomposition and concentration of dissolved salts in water, river water quality is negatively
affected by deforestation (Bagalwa, 2006).
The chemical composition of water bodies in the forest varies from savanna zones to wet evergreen
forests with respect to biochemical processes and interactions, especially vegetation (composition
and shading), climate (regime and runoff) and human activities. There is also a high level of organic
carbon and acidity in forest waters relatively due to high level of litter and several factors involved
in its decomposition and the process of controlling water quality involves the growth of vegetation,
also there is a relatively high concentration of ions in the forest waters in addition to the fact that
these waters are generally more saline (Adeniyi et al., 2008).
Different catchment variables and local environmental conditions determine water quality (Payne,
1986).According to Swaine et al. (2006), land cover and land use have powerful influences on the
chemistry of river water in a in heavily forested catchments areas, which can lead to reduction of
run-off in the wet season resulting in storage of more water through to the dry season which result
in carrying less sediments by rivers to located in these places. They found out that the greater the
cover of permanent vegetation, especially forest, the lower the concentration of dissolved chemicals
hence the lower the turbidity of river waters which clearly elaborates that more anthropogenic
disturbance of catchment direct inputs from human waste leading to a fall in the level of the quality
of the water.
114
Swaine et al. (2006), found out that the greater the cover of permanent vegetation, especially forest,
the lower the concentration of dissolved chemicals hence the lower the turbidity of river waters
which clearly elaborates that more anthropogenic disturbance of catchment direct inputs from
human waste leading to a fall in the level of the quality of the water. The same research group
clarified that sediments-bound nutrients and organic matter are transported with sediments of
erosion and can therefore lead to eutrophication and degrade the quality as well as reducing
productivity of the catchment in terms of crop yields and biomass.
Catchments with higher forest cover yields more oligotrophic and less turbid water and also forest
have mitigating effects for small-scale flood events but not for large scale where it only minimizes
it. Thus there is the possibility of contributing to local flooding through management activities like
roads and drainage ditches through increasing the effective density of the stream network. It can
also cause greater groundwater recharge and increase dry season flow due to high infiltration rates
exceeding extra evaporation anticipated from the forest (Swaine et al., 2006). Natural forest erosion
rates are very low and of good water quality except for high pollution climates where there is
possibility of high nitrate concentration and catchment acidification in soil and ground water but
contrary there is an indication that forest water use is equal due to high interception and
transpiration losses (Swaine et al., 2006).
Quality and regulation of water flow
The quality of water is very high in forested watersheds relative to watersheds under other land uses
such as settlement, industry and agriculture which may increase the quantity of pollutants heading
into the water. The role of forest in regulating erosion can also result in high water quality. Virgin
forest is the best watershed land cover due to leaf litter, under story and rich soil to reduce erosion
water erosion. Forest reduce the need for treating drinking water and consequently reduce the cost
of water supply and mostly help in controlling minor floods but sometimes prevent major floods
(Dudley et al., 2007). Bradshaw et al. (2007) have pointed that the natural forest has a high capacity
to prevent flood.
Quantity and supply
The exact interaction between diverse species of trees, soil type and management practices are not
well understood which interferes and hinders the ability to precisely predict (Dudley et al., 2007).
Calder (2000) reported that evaporation may be higher from forest than other land use watersheds
and therefore water drains from forest watersheds better than from other land use catchments
whereas Bruijnzeel (1990) augmented that aged natural forest may elevate the net flow of water.
Transpiration and interception are the main processes by which plants utilize water. The extended
transpiration is due to deeper roots of trees and greater extent of interception due to height It
increases aerodynamic turbulence thereby increasing evaporation. A significant contribution to the
quantity of water intercepted is caused by the presence of under story and also the age of trees
affects efficiency of water use and leaf area which reduces as the trees grow with time (Calder et al.,
2008).
Turbidity/salinity of water and riverbank stability
Through improvement of soil structure and stability, woodland is capable of reducing soil erosion
and sediment possibly entering streams due to increased infiltration rates, reduced rapid surface runoff and provision of shade and shelter. Woodland is effective in reducing soil erosion and
115
maintaining the clarity of water very high though it can also increase turbidity and siltation resulting
from large-scale harvesting and cultivation for new planting (Calder et al., 2008).
Acidification
Tree canopies absorb and ‘scavenge’ atmospheric pollutants possible of contributing to elevated
acidification through emission of nitrogen and sulphur from burning of fossil fuels where the
quantity and impact on water is highly influenced by the nature of vegetation among other factors
(Calder et al., 2008).
Deforestation and runoff
Deforestation refers to the temporary or permanent clearance of forest for agricultural and other
purposes. Among the processes of landscape transformation is deforestation. This may result in
elevated runoff from land surfaces. Due to changes in rainfall interception, transpiration and soil
structure, increases stream flow between 400-450 mm per year. Tropical deforestation could cause
an increase in rate of sea-level rise of 0.13mm per year. Deliberate removal of forest is a
longstanding and significant way of modifying the environment by humans either by cutting or fire.
It is estimated that total annual deforestation has increased drastically from 9.2 million hectares to
16.8 million hectares including the rainforest deforestation rate of 0.43% for Africa. This rapid loss
of rainforest described as potentially extreme may contribute to crucial increase in rates of erosion.
The coastal mangrove forests are under increasing pressure from human activities since they
constitutes a reservoir, refuge, feeding ground and nursery for many useful plants and animals.
They export decomposable plant debris into adjacent coastal waters and also provide a significant
energy source and nutrient input to most tropical estuaries, they serve also as buffers against erosion
(Goudie, 2006).
Dahlgren (1998) reported that there were substantial nitrogen fluxes from clear-cut watershed which
decreased over time. Due to combination of elevated stream-water nitrate concentrations and an
increase of water can reduce evapotranspiration and interception of water by the canopy, and thus
the nitrogen flux in stream can increase. The removal of the canopy attenuates the capture
efficiency of a clear-cut watershed, thus resulting in higher nitrogen input compared to forested
watershed. Since the canopy has a much higher capture efficiency of atmospheric gases, aerosols,
and particulate matter, the concentration of nitrate in stream water draining clear-cut watersheds is
increased especially during storm event with high stream discharge volumes. Less microbial
immobilization and rapid release of mineral nitrogen may results from removal of woody biomass
by burning. Harvesting reduces nitrate concentration in stream water with high-order downstream
segments as a result of dilution and in-stream immobilization. After harvesting there is reduction in
nutrient uptake by vegetation and increased leaching from soil as mineralization is enhanced
resulting in high nitrate concentration in stream-water (Dahlgren, 1998).
Forest and water quality
Intense fires generate water-repellent layers in soil which lead to increased soil erosion after heavy
rains. Erosion adds sediment loads in water thereby affecting its quality. Conditions of very high
intensity fires may lead to hydrophobicity in soil due to volatilization of hydrophobic materials such
as resins etc. Substances moving from burning litter into sand are capable of causing water
116
repellence. An increase of the proportion of overland flow is accelerating soil erosion as a result of
the inhibition of water infiltration and/or percolation.
Sediment load in water resource can be increased due to soil erosion caused by water repellence.
Elevated sediment runoff on post-fire ground surface has impacts on water quality. Turbidity and
salinity, decreased pH, elevation of water temperature and increased nutrient load are as a result of
sediment runoff, thereby accelerating eutrophication processes and temporarily increasing the
concentration of pollutants. On the contrary trees and shrubs increase above-ground biomass and
evapotranspiration resulting in decreased surface water runoff and ground water recharge (Chmier
et al., 2012).
Charcoal Production
As much as 80 % of the urban population and more than 96 % of the rural population in Ghana
mainly use wood fuels either as firewood and charcoal. This accounts for about 70 % of total
primary energy supply as the indigenous source of energy for cooking and heating. The use
obsolete, wasteful and inefficient technologies mostly traditional earth mound type have serious
environmental challenges due to the wood resources extracted from forest, thereby contributing to
deforestation. Indiscriminate felling of wood fuel for charcoal production has exacerbated
sedimentation of river bodies and poor rainfall pattern in the charcoal producing communities (Okai
et al., 2011). Guo (2007) identified that charcoal producers access the wood illegally from the forest
without permits whiles the effects of forest exploitation are borne by the whole community whereas
the benefits are to only individual users of the forest resource.
According to Oguntunde et al. (2007), infiltration rates were high on charcoal-site soils and that it
was possible to decrease overland flow and less erosion on the kiln sites, also fires increase runoff
and erosion losses due to vegetation removal and water repellence which can lead to reduced
infiltration and increase sediment loads in rivers.
Soil water retention can be affected by charcoal amendments leading to enhanced crop water
availability and decreased erosion. Water retention is possible to improve and reduce upon addition
of charcoal to sandy and clayey soils respectively but have no effect on loamy soil, indicating that
boast of soil water retention is to be expected only in coarse-textured soils or soils with large
amount of macro pores. Soils under charcoal kilns may have altered structure (decreased bulk
density, increased porosity) which can result in high values of cumulative infiltration (Oguntunde et
al., 2007).The use other alternatives such as solar energy, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) should be
promoted to drastically minimize the adverse effects of production.
Agyemang et al. (2012) reported that mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) was the major tree species for
charcoal production with limited interventions to sustain the forest coupled with lack of
commensurate measures to replace the forest and compounding to the already increased
temperatures as well as unfavourable rainfall regimes. Lurimauh (2011) found that shea tree
(Butyrospermum parkii) was also preferred by charcoal producers without efforts to replant the
trees after cutting. The economic value and durability of mahogany is very high, the use of the
species for charcoal production lead to economic loss, therefore the charcoal producers need to be
educated on the economic and ecological impact of using mahogany.
Seed production is the responsibility of the national tree seed centre located at the forestry research
institute of Ghana with the aim of providing high quality tree seeds for the entire country
(http://csir-forig.org.gh/the-national-tree-seed-centre.php).
117
Conclusion
Water is an abundant resource in Ghana but there is inadequate supply and distribution. Due to
rapid increase in population, industrialization, agriculture and urbanization resulting in diversified
demand is making water scarce and of low quality.
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https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook.
www.goldinvetingnews.com.
Intelligence
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