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WHAT ARE THE CHOLERA RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH SETTLEMENTS WITH HIGHER LEVELS OF SERVICES ? Water pollution and the spread of cholera The current cholera epidemic has again reminded us of the importance of effective sanitation services and the need to prevent faecal contamination of our water resources. Because the cholera bacterium is waterborne, rivers contaminated with human faeces transmit the disease from one community to another, contributing to the rapid spread of the disease. The communities most at risk from the disease are, therefore, those with poor or no sanitation services and those who rely on untreated water directly from rivers for their drinking water and for washing purposes. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has consequently focussed on providing water and sanitation services (albeit a temporary solution in some cases) to these communities. However, the risks associated with cholera are not limited to poorly serviced areas, and any settlement where there is faecal contamination of water resources is a risk. This pamphlet focuses on those, often-ignored, risks posed by settlements with higher levels of services. |
Cholera risks and levels of services Communities with no sanitation services are forced into bush toiletting – often along the banks of rivers. These communities often rely on these same rivers for their drinking and washing water. The cholera bacterium therefore spreads by people drinking contaminated water. In settlements with waterborne sanitation systems, human waste is usually safely removed from the settlement for treatment elsewhere. These communities also tend to have ready access to treated and safe water supplies. Cholera risks are therefore lower in these areas. But, when these services fail the risks of transmitting the cholera bacterium can be very high. When waterborne sanitation systems fail wastewater flows untreated into nearby rivers, or often flows between the houses themselves. The cholera risks associated with this are:-
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What are the underlying causes of pollution in settlements with higher levels of services? Pollution in settlements with higher levels of services normally occurs due to the physical failure of the sewer systems. This may be due to the capacity being exceeded where population densities are too high for the services. In many settlements there are often frequent sewer blockages or pump station failures. However, these physical causes are often underlain by Institutional or Social causes (see the diagram).
Institutional causes arise where the service provider does not have the capacity to operate and maintain the services effectively. Social causes arise where the community does not use the services properly. In most cases pollution in settlements is due to a combination of these two causes.
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How do you address these problems? The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (with financial assistance from the Danish Government) has developed an approach towards managing the water quality effects of settlements. This is based on facilitating dialogue between DWAF, Local Authorities and communities with the aim of identifying these main causes of pollution in any settlement, and then outline ways to address these problems. This approach can be speeded up to allow settlements to deal with emergency situations like the cholera epidemic. This rapid intervention process has been successfully tested in a number of settlements, some of which have been able to address their pollution problems within a few months. If you would like to know more about the approach developed, or would like to start addressing pollution problems in your settlement, please contact: Department of Water Affairs
and Forestry Further reading:
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Who
should you contact in your area? If you have specific questions about cholera or, pollution from settlements in your area, please contact one of the following people: Gauteng North West Province Northern Province Mpumalanga KwaZulu-Natal Free State Eastern Cape Western Cape Northern Cape |
