News Items - Health Stream - Issue 50 June 2008

CRC for Water Quality and Treatment Ends
On 30 June 2008 the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment completed its term of operation under the Commonwealth Agreement. During its 13 years of operation the CRC undertook a broad portfolio of research and educational activities addressing issues relating to water quality management and health risk reduction, from catchment and reservoir management and water treatment to the distribution of drinking water to consumers' taps.

The CRC web page will be maintained until 30 June 2009 and will continue to be updated as Research Reports and other outputs from the CRC research program are completed and published.

The CRC has been succeeded by Water Quality Research Australia Limited (WQRA), a national not-for-profit scientific research institution. WQRA will develop and undertake a program of research and education to build on the achievements of the CRC.
http://www.waterquality.org.au/

What will happen to Health Stream?
The CRC has provided interim funding to continue production of Health Stream until the end of 2008. A decision on future production of this newsletter will then be made by WQRA.

Crypto Triggers Boil Water Alert In UK
The Anglian Water company in the UK has issued a boil water notice for 250,000 customers following detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in the water supply. The notice was issued on 25 June for areas served by the Pitsford Water Treatment Works. This plant draws its water from a surface reservoir which is open to the public for recreational uses including fishing, sailing and windsurfing. According to a statement issued by Anglian Water, the contamination was discovered in routine samples taken from the plant. Some newspaper reports have suggested that an increase in turbidity also occurred, suggesting the possibility of a failure in filtration processes at the water treatment plant. In a statement issued on 30 June, the Health Protection Agency stated that there had been no apparent increase in the number of cases of Cryptosporidium infection reported in the area. Anglian Water is still investigating the cause of the contamination, and is working to install UV treatment on the water supply to provide additional protection against Cryptosporidium.

Low Energy Desalination Process Wins Grant
A team from Siemens Water Technologies has won a grant from the Singapore Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) for developing a new, more energy efficient method of desalination. The SGD $4 million grant, to be used for further development of the process, was announced during World Water Week in Singapore in late June. The new process is reported to use electrodialysis, ion exchange softening, and a final desalting step using a novel continuous electrodeionization process to drive salt separation with minimum energy demand. The grant was offered last year by EWI for any research group that could demonstrate production of one cubic metre of purified drinking water from seawater using less than 1.5 kilowatt-hours of power. Current best available technologies use about twice this amount of power, and many older plants use more energy.

Alamosa Salmonella Outbreak Ends
The town of Alamosa, Colorado is returning to normal following the waterborne Salmonella outbreak that began in March (Reported in Health Stream Issue 49). Over 400 people are believed to have become ill as a result of contamination of the undisinfected groundwater supply. According to media reports at least 18 people were hospitalised and one death has been linked to the outbreak. The entire distribution system of the town was hyperchlorinated and flushed before restrictions on water use were progressively lifted from early April, and the water was declared safe to drink on 11 April. Despite an intensive investigation, the source of the contamination has not been identified. The water supply is now being chlorinated using a temporary disinfection facility and plans have been made to incorporate disinfection in a permanent treatment plant which was already under construction in order to reduce arsenic levels in the water supply.