WORLD WATER DAY -22 March

Contaminated drinking water contributes to disease in developing and developed countries worldwide.

22 March is world water day and the clock is ticking for donors to take action on the humanitarian and ecological water crisis that leaves one million poeple without access to clean water.

• How water quality and quantity are declining in many parts of the world ?
• The water disease and how it rapidly affects people ?
• To resolve  acute problems for communities and governments  what do we do ?

Join us to celerate World Water Day 2009

“Shared Water – Shared Opportunities”

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater.

Drinking Water qualities

Over the last decade the UN promoted private sectors participation in water and sanitation services. However experiences demonstrate that privatly-operator services do not bring the necessary investment or efficienty gains to deliver affordable water to the urban poor. Despite this failure the UN continues to promote policies and funding mechanisms to encourage private sector involvement in water and sanitation services.

Whilst also pressing poor countries to open these sectors to international multinationals. We now calls for changing this approach.changes that recognise access to Water as a human right, and which gives the poor countries the support needed to make this right a reality.

Worldwide 90 per cent of piped water provision is publicly provided,with strong public utilities where its necessary, and elsewhere delivering water and sanitation services to increasing numbers. The challenges is to scale-up this good performance by improving other public providers.We welcome recent comments to the U.N. will took to introduce policies.

Analysis,Quality and Preservation

Water-related diseases

Methaemoglobinemia

Methaemoglobinaemia caused by the decreased ability of blood to carry vital oxygen around the body. One of the most common causes is nitrate in drinking water. It is most important in bottle fed infants and water from wells in rural areas is of special concern. Controlling nitrate levels in drinking water sources to below around 50mg/litre is an effective preventive measure.

The disease and how it affects people

Methaemoglobinemia is characterized by reduced ability of the blood to carry oxygen because of reduced levels of normal haemoglobin. It is uncommon. Infants are most often affected, and may seem healthy, but show signs of blueness around the mouth, hands, and feet, hence the common name “blue baby syndrome”. These children may also have trouble breathing as well as vomiting and diarrhoea. In extreme cases, there is marked lethargy, an increase in the production of saliva, loss of consciousness and seizures. Some cases may be fatal.

In the body nitrates are converted to nitrites. The nitrites react with haemoglobin in the red blood cells to form methaemoglobin, affecting the blood’s ability to carry enough oxygen to the cells of the body. Bottle-fed infants less than three months of age are particularly at risk. The heamoglobin of infants is more susceptible and the condition is made worse by gastrointestinal infection. Older people may also be at risk because of decreased gastric acid secretion.

Malnutrition and infection seem to increase the risk of methaemoglobinaemia (McDonald and Kay, 1988). The general health of the infant as well as Vitamin C intake may determine whether or not the condition develops (Super et al, 1981).

Others at risk for developing methaemoglobinaemia include: adults with a hereditary predisposition, people with peptic ulcers or chronic gastritis, as well as dialysis patients.

The cause

The most common cause of methaemoglobinemia is high levels of nitrates in drinking-water. High nitrate levels may be present in drinking-water due to the use of manure and fertilizers on agricultural land. The natural level of nitrites and nitrates from the environment is normally a few milligrams per litre, although high levels may occur naturally in some areas. Intense farming practice may increase this to more than 50 mg/litre (WHO 1998). Levels greater than 50mg/litre are known to have been associated with methaemoglobinaemia in bottle fed infants. Nitrate is also found in vegetables. Methaemoglobinaemia can also be a side effect of some drugs (phenacetin and sulphonamides), although this is very rare with modern drugs.

Scope of the Problem

Methaemoglobinaemia is now rare in most of the industrialised countries due to control of nitrate contamination in water supplies, although occasional cases continue to be reported from rural areas. It is a risk in developing countries, for example where the drinking water is from shallow wells in farming areas.

There is no reliable estimate of the extent of the problem worldwide. WHO is presently collecting information in order to make such an estimate.

Interventions

Control of nitrate in drinking water is an effective preventive measure. WHO’s Guideline Value for nitrate in drinking water is 50 mg /litre and for nitrite is 3mg/litre. This is relatively readily achieved in centralised, piped, supplies, but is difficult in rural and small supplies.

The group at greatest risk is bottle fed infants. Breastfeeding protects babies from methaemoglobinaemia. Boiling water does not remove nitrate.

For severely affected individuals, medical treatment is possible.

In relation to Water and Sanitation, this should means that the U.N:

-Stop using public money to facilitate private sectors involvement.

-Drops requests for market access within trade talks. -Greatly increases aid and public investment in the sector.

-Supports the development of strong public utilities in the Global South through Public-Public Partnerships that enable the exhange of expertises between public providers, working hand in hand with local communities.

In 2009, the theme for World Water Day is “Shared Water – Shared Opportunities”.