Baig Shams Ali A, Xu Xinhua, Khan Rashid
College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China.
Rural Remote Health. 2012;12:2196. Epub 2012 Sep 10.
In mid-July 2010 flash flooding in Pakistan destroyed the basic water, environmental sanitation and livelihood infrastructures in 82 districts. Two months later, the local press of Swat (northern Pakistan) reported that several residents of Marghazar town became ill and were hospitalized after drinking contaminated water. A non-governmental organization (Oxfam GB) team took action to determine the causes of this incident and analyzed the community drinking water supply.
Standard methods were used to analyze six physio-chemical and four microbiological water quality parameters at five selected sampling locations in the water supply system.
The samples from sites numbers (SN)02, 03, 04 and 05 were found to be microbiologically unfit for drinking due to the presence of Escherichia coli, Shigella, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus (range 18-96 ± 14 cfu/100 mL). However, the pH, conductivity, total dissolved solid, total hardness as calcium carbonate and nitrate as NO3(-2) of all the samples were within WHO permissible limits. Higher turbidities were recorded at SN04 and 05 of 6 ± 0.23 and 9 ± 1.23, respectively.
Quantitative results revealed the presence of pathogenic organisms and water quality risk factors due to the damaged water and environmental sanitation infrastructure. Continued water quality monitoring, the application of household based disinfectants, and healthy domestic hygiene practices are highly recommended in similar circumstances.
2010年7月中旬，巴基斯坦的洪水冲毁了82个地区的基本供水、环境卫生和民生基础设施。两个月后，斯瓦特（巴基斯坦北部）当地媒体报道，马尔加扎尔镇的几名居民饮用受污染的水后生病并住院。一个非政府组织（乐施会英国分会）团队采取行动确定该事件的原因，并对社区饮用水供应进行了分析。
采用标准方法对供水系统中五个选定采样点的六个理化和四个微生物水质参数进行分析。
由于存在大肠杆菌、志贺氏菌、沙门氏菌和金黄色葡萄球菌（范围为18 - 96 ± 14 cfu/100 mL），发现采样点编号（SN）02、03、04和05的样本在微生物学上不适合饮用。然而，所有样本的pH值、电导率、总溶解固体、以碳酸钙计的总硬度和以NO3(-2)计的硝酸盐均在世界卫生组织允许的限值范围内。SN04和05的浊度较高，分别为6 ± 0.23和9 ± 1.23。
定量结果显示，由于供水和环境卫生基础设施受损，存在致病生物和水质风险因素。在类似情况下，强烈建议持续进行水质监测、应用家用消毒剂并保持健康的家庭卫生习惯。
