Hindsight Is 20/20: Using History to Avoid Waterborne Disease Outbreaks

摘要

Among those who manage and oversee the production of drinking water, an important concept for provision of safe drinking water has been the use of multiple barriers, including watershed protection, to provide high-quality source water, filtration to remove paniculate contaminants, and disinfection to kill microorganisms. When watershed protection is difficult or not possible because of the size and ownership of the watershed, greater challenges may confront the filtration and disinfection barriers. Over the years, in spite of provision of treatment, waterborne disease outbreaks have taken place. Although they have been few in number, one reason for the continued occurrence of waterborne outbreaks may be the failure of water utility managers and staff, regulators, and design engineers to learn the lessons that can be gleaned from past problems. This article draws on other literature in which outbreak events related to water treatment failures are analyzed, reviews a number of these outbreaks, suggests factors believed to have contributed to those outbreaks, and presents guidance for avoiding future outbreaks.