WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS: Low Cost, Field Ready Testing Options and the Importance for Food for Peace Programming

Transcription

1 WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS: Low Cost, Field Ready Testing Options and the Importance for Food for Peace Programming TOPS ASIA REGIONAL KNOWLEDGE SHARING MEETING OCTOBER 3, 2018 BANGKOK, THAILAND OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 1

2 WHAT IS WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS? 1. Identifying potential issues 2. Implementing, in advance, practical measures to prevent adverse impacts, and 3. Responding to these issues by implementing corrective measures in accordance with well-developed procedures The goal of water quality analysis is to Reduce risks associated with contaminated drinking water Ensure projects meet applicable guidelines (both USAID and country-specific) OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 2

3 WHERE DOES WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS FIT IN THE F-DIAGRAM? OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 3

4 WHY SHOULD WE CARE? Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Set of aspirational global targets set by the United Nations To progressively improve the standard of WASH services by 2030 SAFELY MANAGED BASIC LIMITED UNIMPROVED SURFACE WATER By 2030, the SDG 6.3 has targeted to improve water quality Also, Food for Peace makes many big investments and the goal should be to ensure they do not cause harm Let s protect public health! OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 4

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6 ARSENIC (As) Arsenic is a naturally occurring chemical element found in the earth s crust that is distributed throughout the environment through air, water, land, and food Arsenic is highly toxic in its inorganic form the greatest threat to populations is from exposure through contaminated water sources for drinking, food preparation, and irrigation of crops Inorganic arsenic is naturally present at high levels in the groundwater of many countries and has many adverse health effects Confirmed Carcinogen Inorganic arsenic as found in water is a confirmed carcinogen Most commonly, cancer of the bladder and lungs Long Term Effects Pigmentation changes, skin lesions, and hyperkeratosis Developmental effects, diabetes, pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease (including myocardial infarction) Adverse pregnancy outcomes and infant mortality OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 6

7 ARSENIC TEST: An Easy Dipstick Testing threshold: The WHO standard for drinking water is less than 10 µg/l or 10 ppb in the water sample; please note that the Government of Bangladesh standard is 0.05 mg/l or 50 µg/l An easier alternative to an Arsenic meter is a dipstick test, which uses a combination of reagents to match the resulting byproduct on a color scale to measure the concentration of As in the sample While a limitation of these tests is that they measure ranges of Arsenic far beyond the levels to be tested for drinking water consumption, an indicator of Arsenic at the lowest test point is already at, or beyond, the WHO standard, indicating that an alternative water source should be selected Total cost $2 per test Target range for WHO standards OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 7

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9 TURBIDITY Turbidity is the relative clarity of a liquid caused by large number of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, which can include clay, silt, and finely divided inorganic and organic matter - U.S. Geological Survey Why does it matter? Turbidity can provide food and shelter for pathogens and, if not removed, can promote regrowth of pathogens in the distribution system, leading to waterborne disease outbreaks and diarrheal disease Measurement of turbidity is collected to determine the level and appropriateness of chlorine disinfection at the point-of-collection Unit of measurement for turbidity is in NTUs Nephelometric Turbidity Units OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 9

10 TURBIDITY TEST: A Simple Tube Measurement Testing threshold: For effective chlorination, the WHO standards require turbidity of less than 5 NTUs (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) Total cost Tube ~ $80 Traditional turbidity meters can precisely measure turbidity of a sample, but a much less expensive alternative is a turbidity tube Since the precision of turbidity measurements needed for water quality treatment is only to be < 5 NTUs for effective chlorination, a turbidity tube is a great low cost alternative Made of two pieces of detachable plastic tubing, a turbidity tube is small enough to fit in a backpack and light enough to carry around a field site all day To measure, water is added in small quantities to the tube while the user looks from above at the yellow circle at the bottom of the tube; water is added until the user can no longer distinguish the black inner circle and then the turbidity measure in NTUs is read on the side of the tube OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 10

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12 MICROBIOLOGICAL INDICATORS There are many disease-causing organisms found in drinking water sources, and there are known and still unknown links between these pathogens and the impacts on nutrition such as Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) and stunting Recognizing that not all pathogens are inactivated by chlorine is crucial for water treatment in many cases, filtration and/or flocculation is also necessary to sufficiently remove pathogenic risk Bacteria Protozoa Viruses Chlorine Inactivates Chlorine Resistant Chlorine Inactivates Cholera Typhoid Campylobacter Cryptosporidium Giardia Rotavirus Norovirus Direct pathogen testing is expensive and not feasible in most settings; indicator testing, as an alternative, tests for organisms that are shown to be associated with pathogens fecal (thermotolerant) and E. coli bacteria OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 12

13 INDICATOR TEST: No Incubator Necessary Testing threshold: The WHO standard for drinking water for E. coli or fecal coliforms is zero CFU (colony forming units) per 100 ml sample Traditional laboratory tests for microbiological indicators are complex membrane filtration kits requiring incubators, extensive laboratory training, and a proper lab setting to run Total cost $10 per test The CBT kit uses color-match scoring to determine the Most Probable Number of E. coli in a 100 ml sample 100 ml sample is distributed among different ml compartments in the test bag and when measured against MPN table will indicate the MPN of E. coli or fecal coliforms in the sample OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 13

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15 FREE CHLORINE RESIDUAL Free chlorine residual is the level of chlorination present in a treated water sample at a point post-chlorination Unlike other water quality analysis test which occur at a water source, testing for free chlorine residual should occur at point of consumption, whether for drinking water or cooking, not at the point-of collection Most importantly, the presence of free chlorine residual in drinking water is correlated with the absence of disease-causing organisms. If measured in the target range according to WHO standards, it indicates that: 1. A sufficient amount of chlorine was added initially to the water to inactivate bacteria and some viruses that cause human health risks The water is now safe to use 2. The water is protected from recontamination during storage, providing appropriate level of residual disinfection The water is protected OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 15

16 FCR TEST: A Simple Colorimeter Testing threshold: The WHO target range for residual disinfection and protection again re-contamination is mg/l or ppm As an alternative to a chlorine meter, a colorimeter test determines the presence of free chlorine residual by detecting a color change with the addition of the DPD reagent powder packet Total cost $1 per test The test matches the reagent + sample against a control sample behind the color wheel; the user holds the colorimeter up to a light source to match the two samples Once the color is matched, the user can read off the indicated measurement of FCR in mg/l Correlation: the higher the intensity of color the higher the concentration of free chlorine residual OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 16

17 WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS WRAP UP WQAP guidance & template Food for Peace Key Takeaways from RCTs OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 17

18 WATER QUALITY ASSURANCE PLANS USAID guidance and template from the Africa Bureau (Link here: A tool for addressing water quality in USAID FFP programming 4 Health-related & 4 operational parameters Health: arsenic, fecal coliforms, fluoride, nitrate Operational: electro-conductivity, TDS, ph, turbidity Additional (as needed): heavy metals, pesticides, chemicals PURPOSE: survey feasible options and context you are operating in, and then, based on this information, decide upon the best course of actions GOAL: for the implementer to propose how they will implement water quality monitoring at the start of the project OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 18

19 Water Quality Assurance Plans Health Parameters TABLE II-A: APPLICABLE HUMAN HEALTH-RELATED DRINKING WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS OF CONCERN USEPA GUIDANCE HOST COUNTRY WHO GUIDANCE REGULATIONS Parameter Limit Frequency Limit Frequency Limit Frequency Arsenic 0.01 mg/l quarterly 0.01 mg/l N.S. Fecal Coliform* 00/100 ml quarterly 00/100ml N.S. Fluoride 4.0 mg/l 1.5 mg/l N.S. Nitrate (as NO 3 ) 10 mg/l 50 mg/l N.S. Please add additional site specific parameters. Add as many rows as needed. *Analysis for thermo-tolerant coliforms (TtC) or fecal coliforms OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 19

20 WASH-BENEFITS & SHINE TRIALS AIM: To investigate whether WASH & nutrition had an impact on diarrhea &/or stunting METHODS: 3 RCTs (Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe) TAKEAWAYS Encourage holistic, community-level WASH programming Take a rational approach to targeting the primary fecal-oral disease pathways Where appropriate, include sustainable drinking water interventions REFERENCES: Luby et al 2018 Lancet Global Health 6:e302-15; Null et al 2018 Lancet Global Health 6:e OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 20

21 Community-Level Interventions, HH-level POU Water Treatment, and Potential WQ Concerns In WASH-Benefits and SHINE, HOUSEHOLD level interventions were used NOT COMMUNITY based ones POU water treatment was used HOUSEHOLD, hygiene intervention COMMUNITY water supply Chlorine is ineffective against Cryptosporidium and when not used properly against Giardia Both Cryptosporidium and Giardia were identified as issues in Kenya Must incorporate proper drinking water interventions including addressing water quality OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 21

22 REFERENCES en.pdf OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 22

23 THE FOOD FOR PEACE WASH TEAM IS HERE TO HELP YOU! Kyla Gregoire Nicole Van Abel Rachel Lobe-Costonis To change this cover photo: Click on View > Slide Master. Right click on this photo > Change Picture > Choose a Picture > Insert. Click on Picture Tools tab > Crop > drag straight cropping handles to inside edges of white frame. You can resize the photo within shape, while locking the photo s aspect ratio, by holding shift key and dragging the photo s round corner handle. You can also use the mouse to drag the photo to desired position within the shape. Click outside the photo. Add photo credit to the text box at top right of page. Delete this instruction text box. OCTOBER 2018 FOOD FOR PEACE 23