Q & A: Safe drinking water.
Your Question:
In Male' there is a lot of concern about the safety of drinking water. I want to know what you think is the safest drinking water source in Male'?
(Question has been re-phrased and condensed for clarity)
Answer:
From the many past discussions that I have had with different people on this issues, I am aware of the anxiety felt by some regarding the safety of different form of drinking water available.
These people, I am told, are particularly concerned about the safety of the water for their young children.
I feel that there is an issue about the assurance of safety of water. I believe the best assurance in this case is the assurance that you can give yourself. Ensuring that the water you are consuming is safe, by taking steps yourself, is the best way to be certain about the safety of it.
I recommend using clean boiled water. Or better yet, boiled AND filtered water. I know it sound like a lot of work, but it is a very effective way of making the water safe.
The modern automatic electric kettle makes the task much easier. For those who do not have an electric kettle or for some reason don't like it very much, there is the traditional way of boiling water. A bit more work, but also a bit more safe. This is because, the traditional way of boiling water, unlike the electric kettle, allows the water to stay at the boiling temperature for longer thus ensuring greater safety.
Bottled water can be safe as long as you can trust the quality of the brand name and manufacturers (and of course if you can afford it). However, I am a bit concerned about the stories from overseas about "re-filled" bottles of water carrying quality assured brand names labels (fakes). And that mixed with the increasing number of bottled water products with previously un-heard names makes it a bit difficult to trust these sources. One of my friends used to boil the bottled water before giving it to his children simply because boiling gave him the assurance he was looking for. He has stopped using bottled water now. (Boiled bottled water is probably no better than boiled desalinated water).
Ground water in Male' is not safe for drinking or cooking! The under ground water lens in Male' has over the years become contaminated and has increased salinity that makes it unsuitable for human consumption.
Desalinated water is used in many parts of the world as the sole potable water. The MWSA desalination plant itself has major steps in the desalination and purification process that cleans and increases the quality of the final product. (I once visited the plant to see how it works and found it very educational). The final "desalinated water" pumped to homes from MWSA has the safety seal of approval from the local public health authorities. This is perhaps enough assurance for most people. What would probably enhance this would be a publicly communicated and rigorously enforced national drinking water quality standard to accompany that seal of approval. Having said all that I must admit, however, I do boil the desalinated water before drinking!
Rain water is perhaps the safest natural source of water available to most Maldivians. The problem I believe lies in its collection and storage. The tradition has been to collect the water from the roofs of households. Different ways of cleaning the roof before collecting the rain water has indeed improved the quality of the water collected. Cleaner and more durable storage has improved capacity and lengthened the usable life of the water thus collected. My concern is based on the difficulty of ensuring how clean the roof could be made before collecting the rain water. With rats and cats running on our roof tops, depositing their biological wastes (that could potentially carry deadly diseases), it would take extreme cleaning measures to ensure a degree of safety that I would be happy with. I would not be recommending drinking that water without boiling it first.
In summary: Boiling the potable water is the best way to ensure and assure yourself that the water is safe for drinking! The other water sources are probably safe as it is, but just to be sure I would boil it and if possible filter it.
Discussion: (moved from niyaf.blogspot.com)
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11 comments:
I was wondering why you didnt mention about the ground water being not safe for bathing as well. I am a poor man living in the confines of the over crowded and messy place called Male'. I know how it is like to have a shower with ground water. A lot of Maldivians use ground water initially to soak their bodies before using the small one or two cups of "safe-desalinated" water in the end. Hello.. we are talking about a basic human need here. We cant afford the prices of this so called pure form of desalinated water either. So i feel the assurance factor is not the main problem. I have been reading some of your posts and i feel that you are always trying to side line the real issues here.Its as though you know whats wrong and don't want to say it. I am sorry, but, how can we make things right if our doctors have an attitude like yours?
That initial post was an answer to a specific question; safe drinking water! I tried not to deviate from the specific issue at hand.
Now to respond to your issue of using Male' ground water for other uses: I personally feel that it is not safe for bathing, taking showers, washing clothes etc..
I will not try to make a full list of what you can or can't do with the Male' ground water. That is not the purpose of this discussion.
I agree with your observation that desalinated water is expensive in Male'. Perhaps more expensive than some Maldivians can afford as the source for all household and personal use.
On the other issue you have raised; I would be happy to address your "real issues" if you would be so kind enough to ask your questions related to those issues.
Note: Please refrain from making personal comments against people making comments to the posts. That is against the spirit of a fair discussion.
Such posts will be removed.
He is right you know. That was an answer to a specific question, your concern is a related but different question.
Dr, I have been reading your posts too. And they have been reasonably good and useful. Not biased.
And there you go. You have answered his question.
Hey anonymous,
That is totally unfair. Don't be so quick to pass judgement. I know this guy and I like his genuine attitude.
Hey Doc, you haven't side-lined issues. I totally support you discussing issues directly related to your speciality.
Fair enough. Dr., i know it was for a specific question. So here goes my question. Do you agree that the current government has failed in every expect in delivering basic needs especially pure and safe water for us all to enjoy? And i was wondering why you deleted a comment posted by some one else who might have posted a personal comment. i dont mind those and i would like this blog of yours to be kept as open and clean as possible. Say yes to freedom of speech.
This blog is about medical issues related to the health of children. As such safe drinking water and for that matter safe water for other uses is within the scope of its discussions.
Freedom of speech is NOT a primary objective of this blog! All fair comments relating to the subject of discussion will be allowed and respected. However, I will not allow unrelated spiteful comments to remain on the blog.
For complete and absolute freedom of expression, you will find other blogs or forum. This blog is not one of them.
Your Question:
Do you agree that the current government has failed in every aspect, in delivering basic needs especially pure and safe water for us all to enjoy?
That is a very broad question. It has a more socio-political and a less medical/health flavour to it. A simple yes or a no does not suffice.
Based on my original post, putting the cost aside, I believe every Maldivian has a way of obtaining safe drinking water (that is after purifying it themselves by an easy method: boiling). Arguably, this is not the same as having ready and un-interrupted access to safe water for uses. This problem is recognised by the local administration and described by international agencies especially in the wake of the tsunami.
For instance in Male', desalinated water is available to anyone who can afford it. It is provided by the local administration for a cost. Perhaps having it priced at its present value prevents it from being accepted as a source of water for all domestic uses.
Also in Male', rain water could be collected and stored within the household. It would most definitely be insufficient in quantity for all domestic use. It is therefore almost exclusively used for drinking and cooking.
Ground water, in its current state, is certainly not a viable or safe option. Bottled water, for obvious reasons, is out of the question.
Complete failure? There certainly is a problem and a degree of failure for whatever reason.
Realistically, looking at the options available for residents of Male', desalinated water is the current option of choice. It needs to be supplied at a markedly reduced cost to the consumer. But would/could it ever be priced cheap enough for everyone?
{I have not compared the price of water in Male' to that in other countries. One should, to be fair, make that comparison. I don't have enough data to make that comparison.
I am currently paying a reasonable fee for water to be pumped to my apartment in Melbourne and I am aware of countries like Jordon where it is even more costly than petrol at times. But these two countries for other reasons may not be ideal comparisons}.
In the other islands where there is no desalinated water the problem could be more evident. However, ground water is of a relatively better quality (not in all of them though) and rain water is collected at households. In these places clean and safe water supply may be more of an issue!
In summary: Yes, there are major problems with our water supply that have not been answered.
For Male'; desalinated water at a markedly reduced cost could help ease the problems.
In the islands; sustaining the quality of the ground water and setting up affordable desalination could be the way forward.
For the country as a whole; reducing water wastage, putting in place water saving measures and recycling water is something we should look at.
While many professionals blog in the line of their profession, about the work they do, they do allow humourous comments by visitors just to eliminate the "official-ness" and to make it more casual and user friendly. you should loosen yourself a bit and become more internet-friendly so that your posts can be beneficial both to you and your readers. Be casual!
I wouldnt remove a comment unless its extremely offensive and obscene. the comment you removed was a reply to the first comment for this post which said something about "a poor man using internet and commenting in blogs". I believe that was a harmless joke. People can enjoy a harmless joke once in a while?
what a boring blog. if u want to send a message across or more people reading your blog, u need to be more creative and take it easy. However, fullly appreciate what you are doing. Something any other doc havent done so far. keep it going.
Is it just me or did anyone else notice it.
He has allowed critism against himself to remain on the blog as it is!
I read the comment that was removed. I agree that it was harmless. It was humerous but personal comment against the original "anonymous".
If removal of the comment was to show that commenters should not be targeted with personal attack it may not be all that bad!!?