Abstract
Most of the waterborne disease outbreaks observed in North America are associated with rural drinking water systems. The majority of the reported waterborne outbreaks are related to microbial agents (parasites, bacteria and viruses). Rural areas are characterized by high livestock density and lack of advanced treatment systems for animal and human waste, and wastewater. Animal waste from livestock production facilities is often applied to land without prior treatment. Biosolids (treated municipal wastewater sludge) from large wastewater facilities in urban areas are often transported and applied to land in rural areas. This situation introduces a potential for risk of human exposure to waterborne contaminants such as human and zoonotic pathogens originating from manure, biosolids, and leaking septic systems. This paper focuses on waterborne outbreaks and sources of microbial pollution in rural areas in the US, characterization of the microbial load of biosolids and manure, association of biosolid and manure application with microbial contamination of surface and groundwater, risk assessment and best management practice for biosolids and manure application to protect water quality. Gaps in knowledge are identified, and recommendations to improve the water quality in the rural areas are discussed.
Highlights
Most of the waterborne disease outbreaks observed in North America are associated with rural drinking water systems
Most of the reported waterborne diseases outbreaks in North America were related to microbial agents, some to chemical agents, and some were of unknown etiology
There is a potential risk of human exposure to waterborne contaminants such as human and zoonotic pathogens originating from manure, biosolids, and leaking septic systems in rural areas [13,14,15]
Summary
Most of the waterborne disease outbreaks worldwide and in North America are associated with rural drinking water systems. Between 1981 and 1998, 50% (210 of 417) of the reported waterborne disease outbreaks were linked to contaminated groundwater [2,3]. Fecal contamination from bathers, septic tanks, runoff from agricultural areas, and other sources was identified as the important cause of outbreaks in untreated recreational waters. Zoonotic bacterial agents such as E. coli O157:H7 and O121:H19 caused 38% of the outbreaks associated with untreated natural recreational water [1,12]
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