Inclusive Water Supply and Sanitation

For the first time ever, I've found myself in an organization whose responsibility is to provide clean and healthy drinking water for humanity's consumption. This fact was the catalyst to my personal interest in this field, but as a matter of fact, it had existed before. I was raised in Nigeria and I could not have imagined that such a country can have access to safe, clean and affordable water supply. But then after gaining insights into how things work in the United States, it dawned on me that we need better training for people who are supposed to be working to maintain our infrastructure that provides clean and secure water for human consumption. The question here, therefore, is...is there any way for us to train these stakeholders so that they can make sure that the water we use for domestic use is also safe? In some ways, WASH has been around for a long time, but the concept of sanitizing water is still new and therefore it can be said to be relatively new in America, with only one school that teaches about this subject. So, I have started researching and asking myself questions like… How do people ensure the quality of water they consume (or that they are drinking)? What kinds of initiatives does their government support by giving them incentives so that they can meet targets? What actions does your government take when you observe high levels of contamination in the local water sources? The answer to all of these questions will give me a better understanding as well as a greater ability to help people understand more effectively what is happening at a community level where I am working now.

WASH is defined as “a process and/or technology used to purify and disinfect drinking water”.In other words, a system for reducing pathogens in the water supply that makes it safe for humans to drink. So a lot of steps have been taken by the U.S’s Government to improve the quality of drinking water. However, this problem still exists, especially due to population growth. There has been growing concern about health hazards from bacteria and viruses in water. As a result, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) came up with various programs to address pollution, including improving water systems and introducing filters for air treatment.There have been many campaigns made to reduce or eliminate pathogens in water, and I expect that soon, we will see a shift towards implementing more effective programs, which would be able to help the American Water Industry become healthier. That is why it is important to get familiar with solutions that can help mitigate potential risks as well as educate individuals about safety measures, and especially about preventing contaminants from getting into our bodies. Let's start by looking at methods that might not look directly useful but actually work, particularly because the main goal is sanitation and eliminating disease-causing bacteria.

Water Quality Assurance Program: One method to consider when ensuring your drinking water is through the implementation of public health programs, most specifically Water Quality Assurance Program (WQAP), established in 1987. The idea behind the program consists of four main components: 1) educating the general citizenry that makes sure that everyone knows their rights (in order to make sure that no one is deprived of his/her right to drinking water); 2) enforcing laws to prevent contaminated water from reaching the general public; 3) carrying out risk assessments for potential contaminants; and 4) testing public tap water to determine if potential pollutants exist.

Most importantly, the WQAP program is expected to increase educational awareness with regards to risks of unsafe water and create awareness regarding potential dangers. It has already helped to prevent epidemics caused by diarrhea among children under five years of age, typhoid outbreaks and cholera outbreaks. More examples include cases of Malaria (which affects women with low immunity), Hepatitis A and B, Salmonellosis, Tuberculosis and Staphylococcus Aureus.

WQAP has proven itself to be fairly successful in preventing widespread illnesses like Dengue fever, yellow fever, malaria and TB, as well as those diseases that are transmitted through contaminated food. By increasing the number of inspections in order to test for the presence of pathogens, WQAP can serve as a strong tool in fighting off diseases that can cause harm to society in addition to preventing diseases. Unfortunately, although studies have shown that implementing water supply standards is quite successful, its effectiveness has not been tested. Since the 1970s, there have been concerns that drinking water that was contaminated from sewage or industrial sites were being treated with chlorine, which actually increased the levels of toxic chemicals in it, thus contaminating the water. The FDA approved two classes of treatments: direct aeration or thermal disinfection. Direct aeration uses steam in order to kill pathogenic microorganisms (such as E. coli or S. aureus). Thermal disinfection involves heated chlorination of waste and wastewater treatment. Both types of treatment have been shown to help prevent bacterial contamination in water for specific groups of microorganisms (e.g., intestinal parasites) that may be present in a population. It is recommended, however, that the best method is to combine both methods since each method alone is a part of a bigger whole.Some studies have also suggested that the use of advanced filtration technology has a positive effect on reducing water contamination. Filtration may be considered as an alternative to using direct techniques since it removes larger particles such as plastic bags or metal fragments, while leaving larger particles such as dirt, grit or sand intact as small particles that would require additional processing will remain in the water. Some examples of filtration technologies are Ultrafiltration, Activated Carbon, Ion Exchange Membrane and others. Although the FDA does not have stringent regulations concerning these tools, this should not be surprising, since these techniques use less energy than the direct methods, and in turn, lower carbon dioxide emissions when compared with heat treatment. These options have, however, not been tested to determine the degree to which these technologies would make water cleaner. Nevertheless, it is clear that there have been advancements in filtering technology over the past decade, which has led scientists to believe that these options should become the leading option for treating drinking water (see below).

In order to reach an agreement on whether any specific filter is superior to another, some experts suggest that it is generally preferred to choose a medium such as activated carbon or ultrafiltration for larger size particles that cannot be removed through filtration with traditional processes such as gravity separation and mechanical sedimentation. If the pathogen is known, the use of antibiotics should always be avoided, even if it means lowering the dose. On the other hand, if the pathogen has not yet been identified or if the infection is unknown, the use of antibiotic drugs and probiotics must not be avoided. An exception is resistant strains that are difficult to treat, such as multidrug-resistant gram-negative disease-causing organisms. A good way to think about the issue is to look at the situation from two different perspectives. Firstly, if the disease-causing agent is not contained, then the solution is not worth pursuing. Secondly, the presence of a bacterium that is causing the infection must be dealt with as quickly as possible. Therefore, in order to control its spread in a given area, there must be an immediate action to contain it. One of the reasons for choosing antimicrobial agents over antibacterial agents in this particular case is because antimicrobials tend to have longer shelf lives, whereas antibiotics are not as stable. Another reason is because of the cost of medication. Antibiotics are typically provided by pharmacies, whereas antimicrobials must be purchased independently. One advantage of using antibiotics in cleaning infected water is that it helps to eliminate the pathogen before it spreads further and cause an outbreak. But when water is treated with antibiotics, this doesn't guarantee that none of the antibiotics will still be present in the water after being used as a disinfectant and as an ingredient for other products. Hence, the disinfectant could have been used again and left on the water in contact with something else.This is how bacteria can grow resistant to the effects of antibiotics. Furthermore, antibiotics destroy beneficial gut flora and may damage sensitive tissues in the body. In addition, there are no guarantees that antibiotic medications will work uniformly or effectively against each strain of bacteria that causes certain illnesses. Another major drawback to using antibiotics is that the possibility of non-compliance is high. The chances that someone who may not want to comply with an order to stop taking antibiotics may fail to take it. For example, antibiotics prevent the growth, reproduction or spread of harmful microbes, but many people do not follow instructions on how they should treat infections. Moreover, the lack of regular check-ups reduces the chance of obtaining accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Finally, even though some research suggests that the use of antibiotics in medical settings is useful (especially when there is inadequate information on how to proceed with treatment without the use of antibiotics), antibiotics may not only not be effective (for instance, resistance development). In addition, antibiotics are associated with severe side effects such as nausea, vomiting, allergic reactions, and diarrhea. All in all, the evidence to date is insufficient to establish a definitive conclusion regarding benefits versus harms. Although these limitations are not too serious, they are enough to warrant caution when evaluating clinical guidelines, and any recommendation related to medication is subject to considerable debate.So, it seems apparent that proper management of waterborne pathogens is essential to curb the spread of dangerous diseases. Given that these diseases can affect anyone, the importance of maintaining clean water should not be underestimated. There are several options for keeping water cleaner, including: 1) monitoring the quality of water from sources; 2) implementing policies that promote healthy living, and 3) implementing