A PROSPECTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF GASTROINTESTINAL HEALTH EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH CONSUMPTION OF CONVENTIONALLY TREATED GROUNDWATER
Impact/Purpose:
In the US, over 85 million people depend on community GW systems for drinking water. Epidemiology studies in communities using surface water sources have suggested that 10-40% of gastrointestinal illness may be associated with drinking water. Recent national GW surveys have found significant occurrence of microbial contamination in GW sources, and there is no information about the endemic illness that may be associated with consumption of treated GW. There is also uncertainty about the risks from problems with distribution systems vs. risks from treatment deficiencies. The specific aims are to: 1) compare GI rates in individuals drinking highly purified bottled water to GI rates in individuals drinking conventionally treated GW bottled at the treatment plant to determine the risk of GI illness associated with source water quality and treatment; 2) compare GI rates in individuals drinking bottled treatment plant water to GI rates in individuals drinking treated GW from selected areas of the distribution system to determine the risk of GI illness associated with distribution system vulnerability.
Description:
The overall goal of this study is to estimate the risks of endemic gastrointestinal illness (GI) associated with the consumption of conventionally treated groundwater (GW) in the US and determine the relative contributions of source water quality, treatment efficacy and distribution system vulnerability to endemic waterborne disease.
Record Details:
Record Type:PROJECT(
ABSTRACT
)
Start Date:10/01/2002
Completion Date:09/30/2005
Record ID:
57485
Keywords:
DRINKING WATER, GROUNDWATER, HEALTH EFFECTS, HUMAN HEALTH, PATHOGENS, MICROBIAL WATER QUALITY, EPIDEMIOLOGY, INTERVENTION STUDY,
Related Organizations:
Role
:OWNER
Organization Name
:EMORY UNIVERSITY
Mailing Address
:1380 S Oxford Rd
Citation
:Atlanta
State
:GA
Zip Code
:30322
Role
:OWNER
Organization Name
:UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
Mailing Address
:4202 Fowler Ave
Citation
:Tampa
State
:FL
Zip Code
:33620
Role
:OWNER
Organization Name
:INRS - INSTITUT ARMAND-FRAPPIER
Organization Name
:INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE
Mailing Address
:531 Boul. des Prairies
Citation
:Quebec
Project Information:
Approach
:The proposed study is a 12-month, double-blinded, randomized intervention trial of 900 households in a large metropolitan area in the southeastern US with a community GW system that uses conventional treatment methods, meets current water quality standards and has a well-characterized distribution system with areas of vulnerability. Study households will be randomly divided into three groups of 300 households: Group 1 = Households that drink bottled water that has been treated with reverse osmosis and other advanced treatment methods, Group 2 = Households that drink bottled municipal water collected at the water treatment plant, and Group 3 = Households that drink municipal tap water. Groups 1 and 2 will be blinded to their group assignment. Half of the households within each group will be recruited from vulnerable areas in the distribution system in order to examine the health risks from distribution system contamination. Study participants will report GI symptoms and selected risk factors in a weekly health diary and biweekly telephone interview. Samples will be routinely collected from raw source water, treated water, distribution system water and bottled water and analyzed for microbial indicators. Data analyses will compare GI rates and water quality between the three study groups and between study households in different parts of the distribution system.
Cost
:$1,820,900.00
Research Component
:M/DBP (MICROBIAL)
Risk Paradigm
:EFFECTS
Approach
:The proposed study is a 12-month, double-blinded, randomized intervention trial of 900 households in a large metropolitan area in the southeastern US with a community GW system that uses conventional treatment methods, meets current water quality standards and has a well-characterized distribution system with areas of vulnerability. Study households will be randomly divided into three groups of 300 households: Group 1 = Households that drink bottled water that has been treated with reverse osmosis and other advanced treatment methods, Group 2 = Households that drink bottled municipal water collected at the water treatment plant, and Group 3 = Households that drink municipal tap water. Groups 1 and 2 will be blinded to their group assignment. Half of the households within each group will be recruited from vulnerable areas in the distribution system in order to examine the health risks from distribution system contamination. Study participants will report GI symptoms and selected risk factors in a weekly health diary and biweekly telephone interview. Samples will be routinely collected from raw source water, treated water, distribution system water and bottled water and analyzed for microbial indicators. Data analyses will compare GI rates and water quality between the three study groups and between study households in different parts of the distribution system.
Cost
:$1,820,900.00
Research Component
:OTHER
Risk Paradigm
:RISK ASSESSMENT
Approach
:The proposed study is a 12-month, double-blinded, randomized intervention trial of 900 households in a large metropolitan area in the southeastern US with a community GW system that uses conventional treatment methods, meets current water quality standards and has a well-characterized distribution system with areas of vulnerability. Study households will be randomly divided into three groups of 300 households: Group 1 = Households that drink bottled water that has been treated with reverse osmosis and other advanced treatment methods, Group 2 = Households that drink bottled municipal water collected at the water treatment plant, and Group 3 = Households that drink municipal tap water. Groups 1 and 2 will be blinded to their group assignment. Half of the households within each group will be recruited from vulnerable areas in the distribution system in order to examine the health risks from distribution system contamination. Study participants will report GI symptoms and selected risk factors in a weekly health diary and biweekly telephone interview. Samples will be routinely collected from raw source water, treated water, distribution system water and bottled water and analyzed for microbial indicators. Data analyses will compare GI rates and water quality between the three study groups and between study households in different parts of the distribution system.
Cost
:$1,820,900.00
Research Component
:M/DBP (MICROBIAL)
Risk Paradigm
:RISK ASSESSMENT
Approach
:The proposed study is a 12-month, double-blinded, randomized intervention trial of 900 households in a large metropolitan area in the southeastern US with a community GW system that uses conventional treatment methods, meets current water quality standards and has a well-characterized distribution system with areas of vulnerability. Study households will be randomly divided into three groups of 300 households: Group 1 = Households that drink bottled water that has been treated with reverse osmosis and other advanced treatment methods, Group 2 = Households that drink bottled municipal water collected at the water treatment plant, and Group 3 = Households that drink municipal tap water. Groups 1 and 2 will be blinded to their group assignment. Half of the households within each group will be recruited from vulnerable areas in the distribution system in order to examine the health risks from distribution system contamination. Study participants will report GI symptoms and selected risk factors in a weekly health diary and biweekly telephone interview. Samples will be routinely collected from raw source water, treated water, distribution system water and bottled water and analyzed for microbial indicators. Data analyses will compare GI rates and water quality between the three study groups and between study households in different parts of the distribution system.
Cost
:$1,820,900.00
Research Component
:OTHER
Risk Paradigm
:EFFECTS
Project IDs:
ID Code
:R830376
Project type
:EPA Grant