This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Cryptosporidium monitoring to be stepped up
07/01/2004
All water supplies in Scotland will be
tested more regularly for cryptosporidium following the
introduction of new Directions.
Revision directions to Scottish Water
require every treatment works in Scotland to be tested
for the organism at least once a month from June 2004.
The additional monitoring will cost
£2.8 million annually and provide information on both
existing background levels of Cryptosporidium in raw water
sources and the effectiveness of treatment.
Results will be reported to NHS
Boards, local authorities and to the Drinking Water Quality
Regulator. The additional information will help to track
background levels of the parasite over time and enhance
public health risk assessment.
More frequent and widespread testing
will also give an indication of the effectiveness of
existing filtration equipment and help identify plants for
improvement.
Environment Minister Ross Finnie
said:
"The quality of drinking water is an
established priority and since 2002 much has been done to
reduce the risk of cryptosporidium entering public water
supplies.
"The revision of this Direction is one
of the action points required by the Ad Hoc Group of
Ministers which was established following incidents in
Glasgow and Edinburgh.
"The availability of far more data on
Cryptosporidium will not alter current low levels of risk.
Increased monitoring will however provide invaluable
information and early warning on those locations where the
prevalence of this organism is highest.
"Approximately half of the record £1.8
billion being invested in Scotland's water infrastructure
is aimed at improving drinking water treatment. This
investment, combined with improved information, will ensure
that we continue to reduce risk as new modernised plants
are commissioned and built where they are required.
"The risk assessment process
undertaken by Scottish Water has also been modified to take
account of the densities of farm animal populations around
water catchments and to take better account of the specific
situations concerning ground water supplies.
These processes will improve our
understanding of the relationship between livestock density
and risk to water quality and public health."
Dr Colin Ramsay of the Scottish Centre
for Infection and Environmental Health said:
"Increasing the amount of water testing will
hopefully help to clarify the relationship between finding
the Cryptosporidium organism in water and the risk of
becoming ill. As a public health priority, NHS Boards and
SCIEH will continue to carry out active surveillance of
illness as part of this process.
"The number of cases of cryptosporidiosis inScotland varies from year to year. There is some evidence
that the number of sporadic cases is gradually dropping.
Contaminated drinking water has been identified as a source
but usually only when a definite outbreak is identified.
Increased monitoring of the water will strengthen the
safeguards already in place to help protect the
public."
Following the Cryptosporidium
incidents in August 2002 the Ad-Hoc Group of Ministers
identified that the 2002 Directions required revision.
Scottish Water has been consulted on the
proposed revisions as required by section 56(4) of the
Water industry (Scotland) Act 2002 and has tested the risk
assessment process.
The Scottish Centre for Infection and
Environmental Health (SCIEH) has also been consulted.
Scottish Water will make provision for
Cryptosporidium sampling at all its water treatment works
between January and June 2004.
The new Directions require Scottish Water to
carry out more widespread monitoring for Cryptosporidium.
From June 2004 every supply will be tested
at least once per month with the frequency of testing being
based on the assessed risk.
Scottish Water has estimated that the
increased monitoring will cost £2.8 million per annum.
Allowance for this expenditure has been
made in the company's current spending plans.
The Drinking Water Quality Regulator
has written to Directors of Public Health and Consultants
in Public Health Medicine detailing the revisions to the
Cryptosporidium Directions.
Ingesting Cryptosporidium oocysts (the egg like
form of the organism) can lead to infection of the gut
(Cryptosporidiosis). This results in illness with
symptoms including abdominal cramps and diarrhoea which
can be relatively prolonged. There is no effective
treatment for the illness at present. The illness
usually resolves without long term effects but may be
more severe and more prolonged in people with seriously
weakened immune systems. Such people are advised to
boil all their drinking water as a matter of routine,
irrespective of the source.
The revised Directions can be found
at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/health/crypto03.pdf