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“New” Water
Author(s) -
Wood Warren W.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2007.00424.x
Subject(s) - brackish water , desalination , environmental science , water scarcity , groundwater , population , wetland , water resources , water resource management , water supply , reverse osmosis , bay , environmental engineering , hydrology (agriculture) , engineering , oceanography , geology , salinity , ecology , demography , geotechnical engineering , membrane , sociology , biology , genetics
625 first half of the year and a small increase in the second half. If we assume that the increase in cases in the second half of the year is not associated with drinking water, the benefit of the intervention is 905 reported cases per year (the average reduction in the first half of the year). Not all cases of cryptosporidiosis in the community are reported to national surveillance, and the ratio of reported to community cases is estimated to be 7.4 (11). This multiplier has uncertainties because it is based upon a single study. If this multiplier is applied to our estimate of 905 cases, it implies 6,770 fewer cases of cryptosporidiosis in the community each year. Two recent reports have suggested that even this multiplier may be an underestimate (12,13). We have presented evidence that new drinking water regulations implemented in England and Wales during 2000 led to significantly fewer cryptosporidiosis cases in the first half of the year with no significant change in the second half of the year. We estimate a reduction in reported cases of 905 per year or ≈6,770 cases in the community each year. These findings indicate that regulations such as those implemented in England and Wales can have a significant public health benefit in reducing cases of cryptosporidiosis.