Heavy weather events, water quality and gastroenteritis in Norway

Abstract

Climate change will lead to more extreme weather events in Europe. In Norway, little is known about how this will affect drinking water quality and population's health due to waterborne diseases. The aim of our work was to generate new knowledge on the effect of extreme weather conditions and climate change on drinking water and waterborne disease. In this respect we studied the relationship between temperature, precipitation and runoff events, raw and treated water quality, and gastroenteritis consultations in Norway in 2006–2014 to anticipate the risk with changing climate conditions. The main findings are positive associations between extreme weather events and raw water quality, but only few with treated drinking water. Increase in maximum temperature was associated with an increase in risk of disease among all ages and 15–64 years olds for the whole year. Heavy rain and high runoff were associated with a decrease in risk of gastroenteritis for different age groups and time periods throughout the year. No evidence was found that increase in precipitation and runoff trigger increased gastroenteritis outbreaks. Large waterworks in Norway currently seem to manage extreme weather events in preventing waterborne disease. However, with more extreme weather in the future, this may change. Therefore, modelling future climate scenarios is necessary to assess the need for improved water treatment capacity in a future climate.

Global epidemiology of campylobacteriosis and the impact of COVID-19

“…Contamination through cracks in the water reservoir most likely had occurred during heavy rainfall, indicating the importance of water safety planning and risk assessment ( Hyllestad et al., 2020 ). A recent publication suggested the use of coagulation and UV radiation as treatments to improve water quality in areas where surface water is used as a source for drinking water production ( Herrador et al., 2021 ).…”

Identifying challenges in drinking water supplies: assessment of boil water advisories in Norway (2008–2019)

“…In Norway, surface water such as lakes are widely used for source water to drinking water production. Studies indicate that the source water will be affected by extreme weather events by an increase in faecal indictor bacteria, while on the other side, the drinking water treatment systems are anticipated to cope with this increase (Guzman-Herrador et al 2021). The same assumption of uncertain weather patterns representing stressors to WSSs has been previously reported (Levy et al 2016), a Water supply systems serving equal or less than 5,000 inhabitants, including small systems serving less than 50 persons.…”