Access to clean and reliable water is critical for public health, whether used as a beverage, used in the home to prepare food, or used for recreational purposes. Improved sanitation and water availability can help countries’ economies grow. The United Nations General Assembly formally acknowledged the human race’s right to water, sanitation, and hygiene in 2010.
Importance For Health
Diarrhea, cholera dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid, and polio can get caused by contaminated drinking water and inadequate sanitation. The infection is seen at a rate of 15% in patients across the globe in their hospitalization. This percentage is much more significant in countries with lower incomes.
Each year, it’s believed that around 829 thousand people die of diarrhea because of inadequate sanitation, drinking water, and hygiene of the hand. When these risk factors got taken care of, 297 000 children below five years old could not die each year. In 2017, about 220 million people required prophylactic treatment for schistosomiasis. It is an illness caused by parasite worms that can get contracted through contact with water that has got contaminated.
The Economy And Society Effects
People spend less time and effort physically gathering water from improved and more accessible sources, allowing them to be more productive in other ways. Better water supplies also translate to lower healthcare expenditures since individuals are less likely to become ill and incur medical expenses.
Recent Incident
In Irland, Recent events resulted in contaminated water entering the public drinking water supply and the hospitalization of 52 people.
In the words of the Environmental Protection Agency, unsafe drinking water was pumped into the public drinking water supply from two water treatment plants earlier this month. The malfunctions occurred on the Ballymore Eustace water treatment facility and the Creagh Water treatment facility, located in Gorey within Wexford. The Gorey outbreak has got linked to 52 confirmed sickness cases, including the bacteria associated with E. E. coli and several hospitalizations.
Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Housing, has stated. “It’s concerning and unacceptable,”
A Bigger Concern
As a result, these customers were ignorant of the problems and could not defend themselves.
Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Facility
The EPA found that contaminated drinking water got produced for as long as 10 hours from August 20 and 21 at the Ballymore Eustace facility due to the loss of The Cryptosporidium treatment barrier gets accompanied by insufficient disinfection. It is the country’s largest water treatment facility, servicing roughly 877,000 people in the Dublin region.
Irish Water did not tell the EPA or the HSE about the incident until September 1, delaying a risk assessment of the impact on drinking water quality and implementing steps that might have protected public health.
Creagh Water Treatment Plan
Between August 19 and August 19 and 24, a power failure and a malfunctioning chlorine pump within the Gorey water treatment plant located in Co Wexford resulted in water being discharged from the plant and into the public’s water supply with no disinfection. The EPA, as well as the HSE, weren’t informed of the problem until August 26. The HSE is currently investigating an outbreak of public health in the Gorey region.
Investigations By EPA
In both facilities, investigations revealed “absolute failure” of management supervision, operational oversight, and the responsiveness of Irish Water and local governments in their responsibilities to provide safe and safe drinking water, as per the EPA.
The EPA also stated that the following are the critical issues raised by these incidents:
- The dreadful failure of each responsible person duty to supply clean and protected drinking water
- Inexcusable reporting delays.
- Absence of engagement with the HSE on the danger to public health throughout the events
Irish Water Response
Eamon Gallen, general manager of Irish Water, stated that the EPA and HSE were alerted when the company became aware of the events. However, he acknowledged that this was insufficient.
He stated, “In each of these cases, Irish Water and our local government partners fell short of the standards we set for ourselves,”
Minister for Housing Response
“On the problems mentioned, my officers have been in communication with the EPA and Irish Water, and I talked with the managing director of Irish Water today, as well as the chief executives of Dublin City Council and Wexford County Council.”
He said that all stakeholders must implement appropriate corrective steps to maintain a safe and secure water supply.
Current Situation
Additional safeguards have been implemented in both Gorey and Ballymore Eustace to protect the safety of public water sources. The issues have got resolved at both plants, and the water supply is now safe to drink.
Similar Past Events, What Makes Water Unsafe?
Water Contamination isn’t anything new. When pollution worries at the Leixlip facility prompted 600,000 people to boil their water in late 2019, similar communication problems got highlighted.
When water includes bacteria, worms, or poisonous compounds, it is hazardous to drink. Many primary infections get caused by germs and worms. Diarrhea is the most frequent symptom of illnesses caused by bacteria and worms. Thus these disorders are referred to as diarrhea diseases.
Basic Human Right
Water is a human right, and we should all be able to access a sufficient amount of clean drinking water. When businesses take over water services (a process known as water privatization), costs typically rise, driving consumers to use less water. Many people get forced to collect water wherever it is available for free, even if it gets polluted with germs, worms, or harmful chemicals. It has significant health consequences. Government and Other Private Companies should work together to provide a feasible solution to the public without any mishaps like the present events
