Waterborne Disease Outbreaks and the Multi-barrier Approach to Protecting Drinking Water - Global Drinking Water Management and Conservation - page 20

pathogen is diarrheal illness. However, Campylobacter is a bacterial pathogen,
unlike Cryptosporidium and Giardia that are protozoan pathogens. Chlorine dis-
infection is effective against bacteria, and therefore outbreaks of Campylobacter
should be easily preventable. In theory, there should be very few outbreaks since
chlorination is the most common chemical disinfection. However, system failures in
treatment processes are the main contributing factors that allow outbreaks to occur.
Campylobacteriosis is more commonly a food borne disease found in raw or under-
cooked poultry, but there have been several waterborne outbreaks of signi

cance.
In May 1983 in Greenville, Florida, an outbreak of Campylobacteriosis occur-
red. The ground water source supplied the rural community of 1,096 people.
Animal fecal matter was determined to be the source of the contamination, causing
865 cases of illness (Sacks et al. 1986 , p. 424). The Campylobacter pathogen
entered the water source through infected bird droppings into open water towers.
The system was reported to have other de ciencies, in addition to the open towers,

which allowed this contamination to spread undetected. These included an unli-
censed operator and insuf cient treatment (Sacks et al. 1986 , p. 424). The treatment

of the system included pre-chlorination, flocculation, and post-chlorination. With

effective chlorination the outbreak should have been prevented, but the levels of
chlorine in this case were insuf

cient. The pre-chlorinator failed and the water
backed up into the post-chlorinator, which was not effectively chlorinating the
water before it entered the underground well. Equipment, operational, and treatment
failures all contributed to this outbreak. If the plant had been properly maintained,
the outbreak would have been prevented.
In March 1985 the groundwater source of Orangeville, Ontario became con-
taminated with Campylobacter. The outbreak caused 241 cases of illness. The
source of the contamination was surface drainage from farming activity that fol-
lowed a heavy spring rainfall and runoff (Hrudey et al. 2002 , p. 399). The treatment
of the system did not include chlorination because it was not required at the time for
the deep wells. A lack of treatment, especially when considering the proximity of
nearby animal farming, in combination with heavy rainfall and runoff, allowed the
spread of the outbreak (Hrudey et al. 2002 , p. 399). Treatment failure is again
shown as the cause of a drinking water outbreak. Following the outbreak, chlori-
nation disinfection has been installed.
In 1998, a groundwater source became contaminated with campylobacter in the
Haukipudas municipality in Finland. The area of 15,000 people suffered approxi-
mately 3,000 cases of illness. The source of the outbreak is believed to have been
bird droppings through holes in the water tower. The water supply was not chlo-
rinated; treatment failure from a lack of chlorination is again the major contributor
that caused this outbreak to occur.
Outbreaks of Campylobacteriosis are not as common as cryptosporidiosis or
giardiasis, but Campylobacter is still considered a threat to the safety of drinking
water. Proper chlorination or other form of disinfection would be effective against
the campylobacter pathogen.