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

Abstract

The issuing of boil water advisories (BWAs) is a widely used response to microbiological contamination events in drinking water supply systems, and may therefore serve as an indicator for the access to safe drinking water. To supplement data source on the overall status of water supply systems (WSSs) in Norway, we analysed public media reports published in Norway to assess trends, causes, geographical and seasonal distribution of BWAs issued during the period 2008–2019. We identified 1,108 BWA events increasingly reported over the study period but characterised by a decreasing trend in time with respect to duration. The two main frequent causes for BWA were detection of faecal indicator bacteria (42.6%) and risk of contaminants intrusion in the distribution system (21%). We observed higher reporting rates in summer and autumn compared with winter, and higher reporting rates in Northern and Eastern Norwegian regions compared with the Central region. The results of this study could serve as supplementary information to better understand the overall status among WSSs in Norway, particularly in case of recurrent BWA's events, as well as suggest the relevance of BWAs' monitoring in identifying risk factors and planning targeted interventions.

Estimating the risk of gastrointestinal illness associated with drinking water in Norway: a prospective cohort study

“…The very low number of AGI cases associated with the consumption of drinking water may indicate that efforts to safeguard drinking water in Norway, such as regulations, technical improvements, and publicly funded programs, are effective in providing safe drinking water to the public. It can also be assumed that contamination events, either detected by routine monitoring schemes or critical events such as main breaks or similar events, in the distribution system have led to corrective action by the water supplier, such as issuing boil water advisories to the customers of the affected supply area (42)(43)(44)(45). The low incidence of cases underscores the importance of control measures in the drinking water sector, as these measures seem effective.…”

Safe week, unsafe weekend? Consumers’ self-reported food safety practices and stomach sickness in cabin environments of varying infrastructure levels

“…These findings confirm our first hypothesis: a wide variation in facilities exists between cabins, ranging from home-like infrastructure and equipment standards to very basic, hut-like standards. Yet, Norwegian consumers are used to unlimited electricity and clean running water access at home (Hyllestad, 2017;Macrotrends, 2022;The World Bank, 2022), which are both very supportive of good hygiene and food safety routines (World Health Organization (WHO), 2006). There is therefore reason to wonder how Norwegian consumers cope with the lack of facilities in cabin environments, and whether this may increase their risk for foodborne illness.…”

“…For Norwegian consumers, several external factors not related to direct food handling might contribute to good food safety in the home kitchen. Norway is one of the wealthiest countries in the world (The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2022) and virtually all households have electricity (The World Bank, 2022) as well as unlimited access to clean water (98%) (Macrotrends, 2022), wherein 90% of households benefit from running water of high quality from approved waterworks (Hyllestad, 2017). In parallel, almost all households have well-equipped kitchens including stoves, sinks, refrigerators and dishwashing machines (about 81%) (Møretrø et al, 2021).…”

Public Water Service Disruptions: A Descriptive Analysis of Boil Water Advisories

“…Few studies have analyzed the frequency, duration, and causes of BWAs in Canada and Norway [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Six of the Canadian studies examined various factors related to BWAs in drinking water systems serving rural and First Nations communities in different parts of Canada.…”

“…Finally, Hyllestad et al [20] analyzed public media reports published in Norway to assess trends, causes, geographical, and seasonal distribution of BWAs issued during the period 2008-2019. They found that the most frequent causes for BWAs are the detection of fecal indicator bacteria and risk of contaminant intrusion in the distribution system.…”