Abstract
About one-half of the homes on First Nations (FN) reserves in Manitoba, Canada, receive piped water from a water treatment plant (WTP). Many other homes (31%) are equipped with cisterns that are filled by a water truck, and our objective was to determine how the use of cisterns affects drinking water safety relative to drinking water piped directly to homes from the WTP. The study included belowground concrete cisterns, belowground fiberglass cisterns, and aboveground polyethylene cisterns stored in insulated shelters, and all the data collection methods showed that the tap water in homes with cisterns were relatively more contaminated with coliform bacteria than the tap water in piped homes. The frequency and severity of Escherichia coli and total coliform contamination were numerically greater in drinking water samples from belowground concrete and fiberglass cisterns than in piped water samples in each community, and the contamination of belowground cisterns by coliform bacteria was greatest in late spring. As well, data obtained under the Access to Information Act showed no statistical differences in the percent of satisfactory samples (no detects) between 2014 and 2018, suggesting no clear indication of improved water quality in any of the Tribal Councils in which these three and other communities are a member off. Our results point to the need for additional treatment of drinking water in homes supplied by belowground concrete or fiberglass cisterns and replacement of belowground cisterns with aboveground cisterns or piped water to reduce the risk of water-borne illnesses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abokifa, A. A., Yang, Y. J., Lo, C. S., & Biswas, P. (2016). Investigating the role of biofilms in trihalomethane formation in water distribution systems with a multicomponent model. Water Research, 104, 208–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.08.006
APHA. (2012). Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. (R. Baird, A. Eaton, & E. Rice, Eds.) (22nd ed.). American Public Health Association; American Water Works Association; Water Environment Federation.
Artiola, J., Rock, C., & Hix, G. (2012). Water storage tank disinfection, testing, and maintenance. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
Baird, J. M., Summers, R., & Plummer, R. (2013). Cisterns and safe drinking water in Canada. Canadian Water Resources Journal, 38, 121–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/07011784.2013.780790
Bradford, L., Waldner, C., McLaughlin, K., Zagozewski, R., & Bharadwaj, L. (2018). A mixed-method examination of risk factors in the truck-to-cistern drinking water system on the Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation Reserve. Saskatchewan. Canadian Water Resources Journal, 43(4), 383–400. https://doi.org/10.1080/07011784.2018.1474139
Brown, D., Bridgeman, J., & West, J. R. (2011). Predicting chlorine decay and THM formation in water supply systems. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio-Technology, 10(1), 79–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-011-9229-8
Daley, K., Castleden, H., Jamieson, R., Furgal, C., & Ell, L. (2015). Water systems, sanitation, and public health risks in remote communities: Inuit resident perspectives from the Canadian Arctic. Social Science & Medicine, 135, 124–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.04.017
Department of Finance Canada. (2016). A better future for indigenous peoples, budget plan 2016. House of the Commons.
EKOS Research Associates Inc. (2011). Perceptions of drinking water quality in First Nations Communities and General Population. Ottawa, Ontario. https://www.ekospolitics.com/articles/015-11.pdf
Farenhorst, A., Li, R., Jahan, M., Tun, H. M., Mi, R., Amarakoon, I., et al. (2017). Bacteria in drinking water sources of a First Nation reserve in Canada. Science of the Total Environment, 575, 813–819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.138
Fernando, D. M., Tun, H. M., Poole, J., Patidar, R., Li, R., Mi, R., et al. (2016). Detection of antibiotic resistance genes in source and drinking water samples from a first nations community in Canada. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 82(15), 4767–4775. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00798-16
Fricker, C. R., Warden, P. S., & Eldred, B. J. (2010). Understanding the cause of false negative β-d-glucuronidase reactions in culture media containing fermentable carbohydrate. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 50(6), 547–551. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-765X.2010.02834.x
Gora, S. L., Anaviapik Soucie, T., McCormick, N. E., Ontiveros, C. C., L’Hérault, V., Gavin, M., et al. (2020). Microbiological water quality in a decentralized Arctic drinking water system. Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology, 6(7), 1855–1868. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ew00019a
Graham, J. P., & Vanderslice, J. (2007). The effectiveness of large household water storage tanks for protecting the quality of drinking water. Article in Journal of Water and Health. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2007.011b
Hach, C. (2002). Water analysis handbook. Loveland.
Health Canada. (2007). Procedure Manual for Safe Drinking Water in First Nations Communities South of 60 °. First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.Health Canada. (2009). Guidance for Issuing and Rescinding Drinking Water Avoidance Advisories in Emergency Situations. Ottawa, Ontario. www.healthcanada.gc.ca. Accessed 20 April 2021.
Health Canada. (2009). Guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality: Guideline technical document—chlorine. Water, Air and Climate Change Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. (Catalogue No. H128–1/09–588E).
Health Canada. (2015). Guidance for issuing and rescinding boil water advisories in Canadian drinking water supplies. Water and Air Quality Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario (Catalogue No. H128–1/09–578–1E-PDF).
Health Canada. (2020). Guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality summary table. Water and Air Quality Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
Howard, G., & Bartram, J. (2003). Domestic water quantity, service, level and health (No. WHO/SDE/WSH/03.02). World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland.
INAC. (2010). Protocol for centralised drinking water systems in First Nations Communities—Standards for design, construction, operation, maintenance, and monitoring of centralised drinking water systems. Gatineau, Quebec. http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/enr/wtr/index-eng.asp. Accessed 20 April 2021.
Lechevallier, M. W., Welch, N. J., & Smith, D. B. (1996). Full-scale studies of factors related to coliform regrowth in drinking water. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 62(7), 2201–2211. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00794-10
Mahler, B. J., Personne, J. C., Lods, G. F., Drogue, C., Personné, J.-C., Lods, G. F., & Drogue, C. (2000). Transport of free and particulate-associated bacteria in karst. Journal of Hydrology, 238(3–4), 179–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-1694(00)00324-3
Mohamadshafiee, M. R., & Taghavi, L. (2012). Health effects of trihalomethanes as chlorinated disinfection by products: A review article. International Journal of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, 6(8), 545–551. http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0025.htm
Montoya-Pachongo, C., Douterelo, I., Noakes, C., Camargo-Valero, A., Sleigh, A., Escobar-Rivera, J.-C., & Torres-Lozada, P. (2018). Field assessment of bacterial communities and total trihalomethanes: Implications for drinking water networks. Science of the Total Environment, 616–617, 345–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.254
Neegan Burnside Ltd. (2011a). National assessment of First Nations water and wastewater systems—National roll-up report. Orangeville.
Neegan Burnside Ltd. (2011b). National assessment of First Nations water and wastewater systems—Manitoba regional roll-up report. Orangeville.
Patrick, R. J. (2011). Uneven access to safe drinking water for First Nations in Canada: Connecting health and place through source water protection. Health & Place, 17(1), 386–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.10.005
Rossman, L. A., Clark, R. M., & Grayman, W. M. (1994). Modeling chlorine residuals in drinking-water distribution systems. Journal of environmental engineering, 120(4), 803–820. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9372(1994)120:4(803)
Sadiq, R., Kleiner, Y., & Rajani, B. (2004). Aggregative risk analysis for water quality failure in distribution networks. Journal of Water Supply Research and Technology-Aqua, 53(4), 241–261. %3CGo.
SAS Institute. (2013). SAS/STAT user’s guide version 9.4. SAS Inst., Inc., Cary, NC.
Simões, L. C., & Simões, M. (2013). Biofilms in drinking water: problems and solutions. Rsc Advances, 3(8), 2520–2533. https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ra22243d
Soller, J., Embrey, M., Tuhela, L., Ichida, A., & Rosen, J. (2010). Risk-based evaluation of Escherichia coli monitoring data from undisinfected drinking water. Journal of Environmental Management, 91(11), 2329–2335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.06.017
Song, K., Mohseni, M., & Taghipour, F. (2019). Mechanisms investigation on bacterial inactivation through combinations of UV wavelengths. Water Research, 163, 114875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.114875
Stelmach, R. D., & Clasen, T. (2015). Household water quantity and health: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(6), 5954–5974. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120605954
Thomas, T. K., Ritter, T., Bruden, D., Bruce, M., Byrd, K., Goldberger, R., et al. (2016). Impact of providing in-home water service on the rates of infectious diseases: Results from four communities in Western Alaska. Journal of Water and Health, 14(1), 132–141. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2015.110
Vogel, T. M., Zagozewski, R., Fonstad, T. A., & McPhedran, K. N. (2019). Assessment of costs of centralized and decentralized water systems on first nation communities. 16th International Environmental Specialty Conference 2018. Held as Part of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Annual Conference, 2018, 12–21
Villanueva, C. M., Cordier, S., Font-Ribera, L., Salas, L. A., & Levallois, P. (2015). Overview of disinfection by-products and associated health effects. Current environmental health reports, 2(1), 107–115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-014-0032-x
Winterbourn, J. B., Clements, K., Lowther, J. A., Malham, S. K., Mcdonald, J. E., & Jones, D. L. (2016). Use of Mytilus edulis biosentinels to investigate spatial patterns of norovirus and faecal indicator organism contamination around coastal sewage discharges. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.09.002
Wohlsen, T. D. (2011). Comparative evaluation of chromogenic agar CM1046 and mFC agar for detection of E. coli and thermotolerant coliform bacteria from water samples. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 53(2), 155–160. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-765X.2011.03086.x
Zhang, C., Li, C., Zheng, X., Zhao, J., He, G., & Zhang, T. (2017). Effect of pipe materials on chlorine decay, trihalomethanes formation, and bacterial communities in pilot-scale water distribution systems. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 14, 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1104-2
Zhou, H., & Smith, D. W. (2001). Advanced technologies in water and wastewater treatment. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 28(1), 49–66. https://doi.org/10.1139/S02-020
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully thank the Band Councils and the residents of the First Nations reserves who partnered with us in this research. The authors wish to acknowledge the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships-Doctoral (PGS D) and the University of Manitoba Graduate Scholarship awarded to Amarawansha. In addition, we thank Ruidong Mi for the assistance in sampling and laboratory analysis.
Funding
This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through its Collaborative Research and Training Experience program (CREATE grant# 432009–2013) and Discovery Grant (DG) programs.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualization, Geethani Amarawansha, Francis Zvomuya, and Annemieke Farenhorst; Managing relationship with the Indigenous partners, Annemieke Farenhorst and Geethani Amarawansha; Data curation, Geethani Amarawansha; Formal analysis, Geethani Amarawansha; Funding acquisition, Francis Zvomuya and Annemieke Farenhorst; Methodology, Geethani Amarawansha and Annemieke Farenhorst; Resources, Francis Zvomuya and Annemieke Farenhorst; Supervision, Francis Zvomuya and Annemieke Farenhorst; Writing—original draft, Geethani Amarawansha; Writing—review and editing, Francis Zvomuya and Annemieke Farenhorst.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Amarawansha, G.E.A., Zvomuya, F. & Farenhorst, A. Water delivery system effects on coliform bacteria in tap water in First Nations reserves in Manitoba, Canada. Environ Monit Assess 193, 339 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09114-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09114-x