Climate Change, Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), and Diarrheal Disease in Children

Abstract

CSOs can introduce high concentrations of microbial pathogens and other pollutants into receiving waters thereby presenting a threat to water quality and public health. The U.S. EPA estimates that 850 billion gallons of overflow are discharged into the nation’s waters each year. This is of concern since the Great Lakes provide water to more than 40 million people and are home to more than 500 beaches. The frequency and severity of CSO events is strongly influenced by climatic factors governing the occurrence of runoff, the amount, and the intensity of precipitation. Projections of future climate change are expected to further exacerbate precipitation patterns. This could present a significant risk to the water infrastructure, potentially increasing CSO events. The Great Lakes Region are where most of the CSOs are found and where trends in very heavy precipitation are increasing, beyond natural variations. This research will focus on the children’s health impacts of CSOs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the U.S., diarrhea causes annually in children under five, about 1.5 million outpatient visits, 200,000 hospitalizations, and 300 deaths. It will examine precipitation pattern in the last 10 years linking it to CSO events and to children’s health. For the time period 2004-2014, data on weather (precipitation, temperature), on CSO events (dates, rainfall amount and duration, amount discharged and the surface water body impacted), as well as health data for children under 5 were obtained. Data analysis was conducted to elucidate associations between weather, CSO events and health of children. We anticipate results showing that extreme precipitation overwhelms the water infrastructure thereby causing CSO events ultimately resulting in excess cases of diarrhea in children Climate change through extreme precipitation impacts children’s health and considerations should be made to account for climate change for health scenarios.