Catalyst Grant – Rural Water Supply Network

Out today: Addressing arsenic and fluoride in drinking water – Geogenic Contamination Handbook

by Dr Annette Johnson and Anja Bretzler, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) – www.wrq.eawag.ch

Researchers at Eawag have been involved in finding technological solutions for arsenic-contaminated drinking water over the last decades. When we also started looking at fluoride contamination in drinking water we soon came to realise how enormous the problem was and how that challenges to long-term mitigation were the same irrespective of contaminant.
Continue reading “Out today: Addressing arsenic and fluoride in drinking water – Geogenic Contamination Handbook”

“FLUORIDE IN GROUNDWATER: A DEBILITATING SCOURGE” Catalyst Project Webinar, 2 May

Reposted from: http://www.thewaterchannel.tv/index.php/dossiers/the-underground-drought/659-gw-webinars

“Fluor is an element abundant in nature. In the right quantities, it is essential for the development of teeth and bones. However, under specific conditions, the concentration of fluoride (F) in ground and surface water can exceed safety levels and becomes toxic for human health. This may lead to skeletal and/or dental fluorosis, two chronic biogeochemical diseases that occur in various countries around the world.

According to UNESCO, more than 200 million people worldwide rely on drinking water with fluoride levels exceeding the present World Health Organization (WHO) norm of 1.5 mg/l. The Ethiopian Central Rift Valley (ECRV) is one of the most affected areas with an estimated 8 million people potentially at risk of fluorosis. Due to its geology and climate, it suffers from some of world’s highest concentrations of fluoride, mainly in deep wells in the semi-arid parts.

Dr Redda Tekle Haimanot and Seifu Kebede (Addis Ababa University) have studied the fluoride problem in the ECRV region for several years. In this webinar, they will discuss the magnitude of the problem, the risk factors and socio-economic consequences. The speakers will also discuss preventive measures that hold promise, and why they are relevant to other parts of the world suffering from high fluoride levels.

Date: May 02, 2014
Time: (To be confirmed)
How to participate:
1) Go to https://metameta.adobeconnect.com/fluoride/
2) Choose ‘Enter as Guest’
3) Enter a screen name
4) That’s it! You can now listen to the speakers, see their slides, ask them questions and share comments/questions”

UPGro research paper on Sketetal Flurosis in Ethiopia

New paper by Redda Tekle-Haimanot, Gebeyehu Haile, part of the “Improving access to safe drinking water_prospection for low-fluoride sources Groundwater” Catalyst Project

ABSTRACT This study compared the occurrence of skeletal fluorosis in chronic consumers of locally brewed alcoholic beverages and their matched controls in the Ethiopian Rift Valley. The study revealed that chronic alcohol consumers developed severe forms of crippling skeletal fluorosis quite early in life. The controls were either symptom-free or exhibited mild forms of the fluorosis. The study showed that crippling skeletal fluorosis was directly associated with the large volumes of the locally brewed beer and honey-mead consumption on a daily basis. Chemical analysis of the alcoholic beverages showed that high concentration of fluoride which was much higher than the fluoride in the water was used for the brewing process. From this study one would conclude that in communities residing in high fluoride areas, there should be awareness creation campaigns to point out the relationship of excessive consumption of locally brewed alcoholic drinks and skeletal fluorosis. Regulations should also be put in place to require producers of local alcoholic beverages to use low fluoride water for brewing.

Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2014, 6, 149-155
Published Online February 2014 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jwarp)
Download the paper here: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2014.62020