Eline Boelee Multiple Uses of Water and Health
Relevant health issues
• Water quality
• Water availability: quantity & accessibility
• Hygiene behavior
• Vector-borne diseases
• Other issues
• Incorporation in planning and design
Winrock meeting 26Apr06
• Different requirements – Irrigation– (human) consumption – other uses (e.g. laundry, animals)
• Chemical / biological water quality – trade offs
• Perceptions
• Treatment
Water quality
Chemical water quality
• Arsenic
• Fluoride
• Salinity
• Iron (taste)
• Often geological origin
• Occasionally agro-chemicals or industrial
• Sometimes treatment possible
Biological water quality
• Main cause of diarrhea
• Bacteria, viruses, parasites
• Sources of contamination – lack of sanitation– upstream activities– transport & in-house contamination
• Often preventable
• Water treatment effective
• Opportunity – Ecosan, wastewater irrigation– Closing nutrient cycle
WHO norm for drinking water
Example: biological water quality Legedini
bacteria
parasites
0.6% of children positive for Giardia (n=326)
Treatment options
• Central treatment– Expensive if quantities increase– No guarantee for safe consumption
• Point of use treatment– Availability of options– Training for safe use– Sustainable?
• Component approach– Lowest quality required as starting point– Not more expensive if planned for– Treatment of community storage
• Quantity: 15, 50, or 100 lpcd?
• In dry areas: using available water wisely
• Demand vs supply-driven
• Accessibility to all, near house, for large part of day/night → time gain (women & children!!)
• Condition (but not sufficient) for improved hygiene
• More water for (other) productive purposes
• Seepage from unlined canals & reservoirs: impact on availability and quality of water for drinking
Water availability
Increase access
• Domestic-plus systems– Increased pipe diameter– Cattle troughs– Right of use
• Productive-plus – Steps, laundry sites– Cattle crossings– Water rights
• Multipurpose– All users and uses, including landless, women, poor– Users’ priorities!– Multiple sources for multiple uses– Incremental services over time
Vector-borne diseases
• Guinea worm (filtration)
• Schistosomiasis– Case detection and treatment– Separate facilities for washing and bathing– Sanitation and environmental snail control
• Malaria and other mosquito-transmitted diseases (dengue, yellow fever, filariasis)– Early detection & treatment– Personal protection: bed nets– Source reduction
• Larviciding not compatible with several water uses• Filling & draining• Biological control
Other issues
• Nutrition
• Drowning
• Zoonoses
• Changes in labor requirements (women and children)
• Perceptions of changes in human health
• Conflicts over water
• Increased income
• Environmental hazards
Health issues in planning & design
• Sufficient quantities for all purposes
• Clean water for drinking– Reduction of upstream pollution– Innovative approach to treatment
• Sanitation and hygiene education
• Prevention of vector breeding
• Participation & perceptions