Stockholm Water Prize 2010

World Water Week, the annual conference organized by the Stokholm International Water Institute ended last week with the announcement of the prestigious Stockholm Water prize to Dr Rita Colwel for her exceptional contribution in the control of the spread of cholera, a waterborne pathogen that infects 3 to 5 million people and leads to an estimated 120,000 deaths each year. The citation reads ‘Through her groundbreaking research, innovations and decades of scientific leadership, she has defined our current understanding of the ecology of infectious diseases and developed the use of advanced technologies to halt their spread. Her work has established the basis for environmental and infectious disease risk assessment used around the world.’ Link

Troubled water: Ireland’s drinking water supply seminar

A one-day seminar has been organised by Engineers Ireland and the NSAI to provide delegates with the latest information and developments in regulations, enforcement, and the role of the NSAI ISO 24512 Drinking Water Management standard, as well as technological advances in the provision of quality drinking water.  It will be held on  October 5th 2010 at  22 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Further details can be obtained via the link.

Cholera outbreak in Nigeria

Cholera is normally associated with disaster and war-torn areas and so the current outbreak in Nigeria is particularly worrying and reminds me of the 1991 outbreak in that country when nearly 8,000 people died. The current outbreak has infected over 13,000 people in just two months of which 780 have sadly lost their lives. Latest reports are that the outbreak is spreading to the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The cause appears to be poor sanitation which has been exacerbated by heavy seasonal rainfall contaminating water supplies. Half of Nigeria's population of 150 million is without access to clean water or proper sanitation, putting the whole country at risk from the current outbreak. While death can be prevented by rapid medical intervention, which is difficult in rural areas; cholera can only be contained by good personal hygiene and access to clean water.

The royalties from my book Drinking water Quality go to WaterAid who work in Nigeria to help establish sustainable water supplies and latrines and to influence government policy to serve the interests of vulnerable people. If you can help this wonderful organization then please do.

Septic tanks and on-site treatment systems to be monitored and inspected

The European Court of Justice ruling in October 2009 in relation to Irish on-site wastewater treatment systems, which of course includes the much maligned septic tank, will require new legislation in order to achieve the level of compliance required by the EU. Currently this is being prepared by the various State Agencies. What this will mean to the average householder with an on-site system is yet to be seen. However, it appears inevitable that the legislation will include prescribed standards covering both the operation and performance of systems. For these to be enforced then licensing, monitoring and inspection of systems will be required. What this will mean is that householders will have to become much more hands-on with their systems or pay someone else to look after them. Where systems fail standards then remedial action will be necessary.

Personally I am worried that this will lead to much hardship for many rural people and even in extreme cases the possibility of people unable to continue to live in their homes. Currently it costs about €5,000 to install a simple septic tank percolation area and approximately €18,000 for a sophisticated on-site treatment and percolation system. On top of this is the annual desludging costs of between €180-275. There are also possible maintenance or service charges for on-site treatment plants which range between €250 to €500 and which usually excludes the cost of replacement parts. To include a possible annual licence fee for on-site systems and then an equivalent monitoring and inspection system to the National Car Testing scheme with possible costly remediation or up grading work after inspection will create enormous hardship for many. I often wonder if there is an urban-rural divide in Ireland, in terms of water and wastewater provision there certainly appears to be.

River sampling can be very unpredictable

River sampling can be very unpredictable especially in hard rock (e.g. granite) catchments. The River Avoca is very flashy with a discharge rate that can increase from 0.7 m3/s to 70 m3/s within just a few hours during intense rainfall events. Yesterday the height of the River was 1.6 m lower than this afternoon after 18 hours of heavy showers. The picture shows a slightly worse event in January 2010 which resulted in localized flooding. On that occassion the water was 2.2m higher than normal at the same point. Sampling is normally planned many weeks or months in advance but when conditions are like this then it is impossible and dangerous to proceed.  So if at all possible always work in soft rock catchments (e.g. chalk) where discharge rates are largely unaffected by rainfall events. No sampling tomorrow!

New research on acid mine drainage

Lisa Egan has joined the Water Technology Research Group to work on using duckweed to assess the impact of acid mine drainage and for its potential treatment. Link to Lisa's research page.

New book launched

The latest edition of the textbook Water Technology: An introduction for Environmental Scientists and Engineers (740pp) written by Professor Nick Gray of the Centre for the Environment  has been released today. Co-published by Butterworth-Heinemann and IWA Publishing the new third edition has been extensively updated and expanded, and is supported by a dedicated website and blog: http://www.irelandswater.com/. The book is also available on-line.