Ecosystem and Watershed Ecology for Sustainable Clean and Healthy Drinking Water.

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Ecosystem and Watershed Ecology for Sustainable
Clean and Healthy Drinking Water.

• Asit Mazumder
• NSERC-Industry Research Program
• Environmental Management of Drinking Water
• University of Victoria
• ltwww.UVic.ca/watergt

Funding Partners NSERC-Industry Research Chair
Grant CRD Water Department Vancouver Water
Department BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air
Protection Crestbrook Forest Industries Galloway
Lumber Company BC Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food N. Okanagan Cattlemans
Association BC Beef/Cattle Industries Development
Fund Agriculture Agri-Food Canada Health
Canada Environment Canada
Contributing Research Team Grad Students W.
Nowlin, JM. Davies, C. Meays, B. Matthews, P.
Furey, M. Deagle, R. McMackin, D. Bryant, J.
Lambert. PDFs Research Professionals M.
Kainz, S. Verenitch, R. Nordin, T. Peace, Y.
Liang, B. Basu, T. De Monoye, S. Thompson,
Collaborators R. Roy (UVic), K. Telmer (UVic),
M. Samadpour (UWA), K. Broersma (AAFC), J.
Aramini (HC),
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Quality and Quantity of Drinking Water is a
Major Problem

• Worldwide, millions of people die each year from
  contaminated drinking water.
• During last four years, Canadians faced several
  drinking water disasters
• Walkerton- Seven people died and 100s became
  sick.
• Battleford - Many people got sick from intestinal
  disease
• Each year 1000s of water supplies in Canada give
  boil-water advisories.
• Recent report says BC has 40 greater incidences
  of water related disease than any other provinces
  in Canada.
• Majority of these problems start at the source
  water ecosystems and watersheds, yet very little
  is done to sustain water quality at the source.
• Challenge? To manage the quality of drinking
  water under unsustainable land/ water-use, poor
  source water, and failing infrastructure.

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Why take ecosystem and watershed approach to
sustain clean and healthy water? Because
problems originate at the source water ecosystems
and watersheds.

• What are the quality and health indicators of
  water quality?
• Pathogenic bacteria and protozoans- intestinal
  disease
• Excessive nutrients and algae - taste/odour,
  toxins, disinfection byproducts
• Harmful chemicals - pesticides, herbicides,
  metals, antibiotics and phamacare products
• Unfortunately, treatment and disinfection cannot
  eliminate all of the water quality problems.
• While disinfection and filtration can be
  effective in reducing risk of pathogens, they
  produce disinfection byproducts with significant
  health risk and make water supply very expensive
  and inefficient.
• Why not develop source water management and
  protection to reduce these risks, to provide
  healthy water, to reduce cost and increase
  efficiency?

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Poor quality water at the source increases health
risk of drinking water at home.

• Source Water Quality
• Bacteria, Algae, Pathogens
• TOC, DOC, Turbidity, Toxins

Coagulation/Flocculation removes colloidal
particles by adding certain chemicals (coagulants)
Sedimentation
Floc settles down to the bottom
Storage for disinfection to take place, and for
variable water demand
Disinfection kill bacteria and other organisms
Filtration remove particles through filters
Disinfection Byproducts formed during treatment
and disinfection
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• NSERC-Industry Research Chair Program in
• Environmental Management of Drinking Water
• Our Research at UVic currently cover the
  following specific aspects
• Watershed processes leading to nutrient,
  chemical, sediment and pathogen loading to
  source water.
• Aquatic processes regulating source water quality
  in relation to water level and watershed
  changes.
• Ecology and source tracking of pathogens as a
  function of land-use patterns.
• Production of carcinogenic byproducts in drinking
  water in relation to source water.
• Development of GIS and Remote Sensing based
  models for land-use patterns and water
  quality/quantity.
• Modeling waterborne disease in BC using medical
  billing and prescription data.
• Reconstruction of historic climatic conditions,
  land/water use, water quality, and foodweb
  changes using sediment chronology.
• Hg contamination of fish in BC lakes and its
  health implication

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Ecosystem and watershed processes affect the
quality of water at the source and the quality of
water at the tap.
Land-use activities and practices --Agriculture --
Farming --Waste disposal --Pesticides /
Herbicides --Harvesting --Roads Highways
Quality of source water Bacteria, Pathogens,
Humic compounds, Pesticides, Herbicides, Heavy
metals
Quality of drinking water Human health
risks from pathogens, byproducts, metals
contaminants
Loading of --Nutrients --Bacteria/Pathogens --Meta
ls/Organics --Humic compounds
Aquatic processes modify the impacts of external
loading
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Nutrient-foodweb processes within source water
are critical determinants of water quality and
the impact external loading of nutrients,
chemicals pathogens.
Fish Communities
Grazers
Small inefficient grazers
Large efficient grazers
Poor Source water
Bacteria/Algae Pathogens
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• TOC-DBP relationship
• DOC-DBP relationship
• Impact of Ozone and UV treatment on DBP
  formation
• Type and intensity of disinfection on DBPs

Long-term health impacts of source water quality
need more attention.
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Some of the taste and odor and toxin producing
algae in source drinking water.
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Taste and Odor in Drinking Water
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Emerging technologies that could help developing
robust risk assessment and management tools.

• Source tracking of pathogens using ribotyping.
• Source tracking of nutrients using stable
  isotopes.
• Foodweb structure (grazers in lakes, reservoirs
  or streams) to evaluate the aquatic systems
  capability to minimize external inputs of
  nutrients, chemicals and pathogens.
• GIS and Remote Sensing models quantifying
  nutrient, chemical and pathogen loading to source
  water.
• Expert system for real time monitoring and
  assessment of water and watershed conditions.
• Water and watershed management strategies based
  on integrated expert system.
• Improved public communication and education based
  on integrated watershed science.

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Tracking the sources of bacteria

• One of the most recent technology is DNA finger
  printing to track source of pathogens.
• This is a technology that has long been used by
  food industry.
• This technique is capable of distinguishing
  sources like humans, birds, wildlife (by type)
  and farmed mammals.

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Tracking sewage/organic inputs to source water by
using stable isotopes of d15N
Range for Cucheon/Elk Lake
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Application of Medical Billing and Services Data
from communities is a powerful way of evaluating
the health related to water.
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Integrated Technology for
Decision Making Real-time water quality
monitoring and risk assessment Drinking water
and watershed Protection Sustainable Watershed
Management Prediction of pathogens and health
impacts
Water Quality Watershed Data Management
Simulation of early warning
Prototype under development in our laboratory at
the University of Victoria
Decision making
Expert System
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Advantages of Expert System

• Integrates land-use planning, hydrology, water
  quality. meteorology, system characteristics
• Assesses-Warns Source water quality, taste and
  odour events, pathogens, turbidity
• Simulates behavior of system under various
  natural and perturbed conditions of watersheds
  and source water
• Optimizes location of instrumentation, operating
  protocol etc.
• Analyses sensitivity of source system, cause and
  effect
• Assists provides feedback and guidance e.g.
  disinfection, source switching, land use planning
  

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100-Yr. Mean
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• Sooke Lake and the intake tower supplying water
  to Victoria.
• A 100-year draught in 2000 caused severe water
  shortage.
• Severe drawdown like this causes water quality
  problems by changing the thermal stability
  and nutrient release from sediment to water

August, 2001
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Seymour Reservoir of Vancouver Water Supply
during October 2002. Heavy Consumption and low
rainfall during summer created this historic low
level of water. High exposure of sediment has
caused extremely high levels of iron and ammonia
in drinking water
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What are the immediate challenges for Canadian
communities?

• We need to think beyond treating water as the
  sole solution. We must develop integrated water
  and watershed science linking source water
  ecosystems to tap to community health.
• Integration science and policies for best land-
  and water-use practices for clean and healthy
  drinking water will need
• Clean Water Policies and Guidelines that go
  beyond treatment and disinfection into short- and
  long-term human and environmental health.
• Multi-barrier approaches capable of assessing
  health risks from chemical and biological agents
  in source and supply water.
• Province-wide and nation-wide programs
  integrating ecosystem and watershed knowledge
  into the quality of source and supply water and
  community health.
• Transfer of integrated understanding of water
  quality to the utility managers, especially to
  the managers of small to medium water supplies
  and communities.
• What can government/industries do to achieve the
  goal of sustainable clean water
• Develop enforceable policies and regulations for
  water and watershed management and protection.
• Enhance support for infrastructure, modern
  analytical facilities, training program and
  public education.

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Model Community Watershed Approach for Clean and
Healthy Drinking Water

• Track/Model sources of
• Pathogens
• Toxic organic chemicals
• Disinfectants
• Waterborne disease

• Map watershed with GIS for assessing
• Land use planning
• Loading of pathogens, nutrients chemicals
• Source water quality

Characterize watershed and source water quality
Assess/model health risks
Science
Integrate science into community and culture
Integration
Stakeholders, Managers, Public, Decision Makers
Deliver Watershed Science/Technology

• Education/Technology
• Train managers
• Involve communities
• Help policy development
• Science-based decisions

In partnership with communities, industries
government and scientists, we have been applying
this approach to individual community watersheds
for clean healthy drinking water.
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Thank you