What is Cryptosporidium and how did it get in the water supply?
Over 300,000 homes in Lancashire will continue to boil their water as Cryptosporidium contaminates supply.
It’s been 11 days since United Utilities issued a boil-water notice after finding traces of cryptosporidium in a Preston water-treatment plant and the notice is still in place.
Director of customer services at United Utilities, Gary Dixon, said in an interview with the BBC “There are still traces of cryptosporidium in the water but they are very, very low.” And also said that the company had isolated the cause of the parasite’s outbreak but declined to provide further details.
Regardless of the level of contamination, the water is still contaminated. In this post I’ll cover what exactly cryptosporidium is and how it may have contaminated the water supply.
What is cryptosporidium?
Cryptosporidium is a parasitic organism that causes gastrointestinal illness and diarrhoea. This nasty parasite is usually spread through contact with soil, water, food or surfaces that have been contaminated with infected faeces – the dreaded faecal-oral route.
Symptoms of cryptosporidiosis often show up after around 7 days, but can take as long as a month. These symptoms can include:
- Watery diarrhoea
- Stomach pains / cramps
- A fever
- Nausea / vomiting
- Rare severe diseases including pancreatitis
The source of the contamination
Experts say that ongoing water contamination in Lancashire has probably been caused by animal faeces or the carcass of a dead animal – not particularly pleasant reading for anyone in the affected area; however investigations are ongoing.
As well as posing a risk to the residents in Lancashire, recreational water-sportspeople may also be affected by this parasite after coming into contact with the contaminated water.
It’s not the first time
Anglian Water were criticised heavily back in 2008 when a cryptosporidium outbreak lead to 22 infections and a boil water notice that affected 250,000. This outbreak was caused by an oversight that allowed a small rabbit to get into a wash water tank, thus contaminating the distribution system with a strain of the cryptosporidium parasite.
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