How safe are Thailand's rivers, lakes and beaches for activities such as swimming?

A visit to Thailand's beaches, not only in overcrowded places such as Pattaya and Jomtien, makes in obvious: The water is not clean!

Due to human land use in watershed areas, and the lack of adequate wastewater treatment, Thailand's rivers, streams, lakes and beaches have an alarmingly bad water quality.

BioClean Cyclo Microfiltration wastewater treatment systems remove all particles, yeast, and 99.9% of the fecal coliform bacterias from the wastewater! Installing these efficient sewage purification systems all over the country would be a major contribution to clean and healthy rivers, streams, lakes and beaches in Thailand.

Water quality and human health

Pathogens are viruses, bacteria, algae, and protozoans that cause diseases in humans, other animals or plants. Pathogens that may be found in marine waters, rivers, streams, and lakes include those causing gastroenteritis, salmonellosis, and hepatitis A. Pathogens can enter marine waters, rivers, streams and lakes via untreated or partially treated human sewage. Sewage effluents carry bacteria and pathogenic organisms which can cause illness or even death, depending on their concentration and virulence.

The major human health problems which are known to be caused by micro-organisms in sewage contaminated waters include gastrointestinal illness (stomach pains and diarrhea), ear infections, shellfish poisoning, and cholera.

Bacteria

We are constantly surrounded by bacteria and are dependant upon them for our daily activities and survival. Bacteria can be found on our skin, in our mouths and intestines, bath towels, in our foods, in the ground and water. They can benefit us by recycling wastes, make certain types of food (such as yogurt), aid in digestion and help nitrogen-fixing plants to grow. Most people are very aware of the negative effects of pathogenic bacteria, those that make us ill, and those that cause food spoilage.

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Fecal Coliform

Increasing areas of concern are the many types of coliform bacteria such as fecal coliform bacteria, a group that are found in the fecal material of humans and other animals. These bacteria play an essential role in the intestinal tracts of humans and animals in that they aid digestion of food. Once these bacteria are removed from the intestines, they can enter other environments such as the soil and aquatic habitats in which they can become dangerous to humans and other animals.

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Enterobacteria

There are three common types of bacteria that normally inhabit vertebrate intestines that can sometimes be found in bodies of water, they are Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella enteritides (S. enteritides), and Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis). Enterobacteria reside initially in the intestines of vertebrate animals. These intestinal bacteria are found in the fecal material that is deposited by livestock, wildlife and humans and it is this material that can contaminate our bodies of water. Direct deposit by dogs or wildlife such as geese can be a possible source as well as dumping of septic systems, sewage leaks, swimmers bodies, dirty diapers and agricultural runoff. Runoff occurs when rain comes in contact with the soil containing the bacteria and the water then works its way to the closest body of water where it then enters and aquatic environment. Large livestock farms can be major contributors to increased bacteria levels in streams and rivers. This is due to the large amount of fecal material from the cattle or hogs that is deposited on the ground. This material mixed with soil can then be washed away as runoff during a rainfall.

E. coli normally are not a harmful bacteria, especially those found in a lake or river. Instead, E. coli are an indicator of other possible organisms. Since they are found in the intestines of vertebrates, they are in the presence of other microorganisms, which are serious pathogens that can make us very sick. When high numbers of E. coli are detected in a lake or river, they indicate that feces are getting into the water.

The E. coli themselves are not the problem, but the potential presence of other pathogenic bacteria they may accompany could lead to health issues. E. coli pose little or no danger when found on skin; they are needed in our intestine to help digest food, but can make us extremely ill when ingested.

Salmonella enteritides as well as Salmonella typhimurium are both pathogenic bacteria that can be found in bodies of water. Illness can be caused by exposure to these microorganisms. If consumed, Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. It is rare that a person will be exposed to Salmonella in an aquatic environment and become infected.

Another enterobacteria that may be found in water samples is Enterococcus faecalis. Not much is known as to the function of E. faecalis in the intestine but we are more aware of what it can do once it enters a host. It has the unique ability to attack the weakened immune system with incredible resistance to antibiotics. Once it invades it can cause a variety of illnesses such as heart disease infective endocarditis and urinary tract infections.

Health Implications

Exposure to pathogenic bacteria can cause potential health risks to humans and other animals. It can lead to rashes, diarrhea and infections of the ears, eyes, and nose as well as cuts found in the skin. Neurotoxins can affect the nervous systems of animals and continued exposure can be fatal. Due to the wide variety of symptoms and few cases that may occur, it is possible that people have become ill after coming in contact with water containing high bacteria levels. Since there are a number of ways in which people can develop these symptoms, it has been difficult to pinpoint the source; therefore cases are not reported as caused by pathogenic bacteria in contaminated water.

To reduce potential health risks associated with swimming, it is recommended that people should avoid swallowing water.

Testing

Currently, some of Thailand's beaches, lakes and rivers are being tested to check the level of fecal coliforms. Many others throughout the country are not being tested.

It is easier to test for coliform bacteria rather than the pathogenic bacteria because they are found in greater numbers. Coliforms are good indicators of pathogenic bacteria due to the origin of both types of microorganisms being the intestinal tract of vertebrate animals. It is very expensive to test for pathogenic bacteria and they can go undetected, as they will be in small quantities, if they are even present. If indicator bacteria such as E. coli are found in a body of water, the potential exists for contamination by pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella.

WHO Recreational Water Guidelines

The World Health Organisation has issued guidelines for safe recreational water environments. The accompanying press release noted the economic importance of bathing waters to the tourism industry in many countries, and the social and health benefits derived from recreational water use. However despite the importance of this resource, it is estimated that currently one third of wastewater discharged from developed countries is inadequately treated, with the situation in developing nations being worse.

The Guidelines uses the combined results from microbiological water quality monitoring and sanitary inspection to identify sources of faecal pollution. Four levels of microbiological quality are defined and related to health risks based on the dose-response relationship determined from randomised epidemiological studies. These studies compared illness rates in people randomly assigned to swim or not to swim in recreational water impacted by sewage discharges. They provide the strongest standard of epidemiological evidence on the relationship between microbial water quality and health risks. The trials assessed the correlation between disease symptoms and concentrations of total coliforms, faecal coliforms, faecal streptococci, total staphyloccoci, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in recreational water.

Swimmers had statistically significant increased risks for gastrointestinal illness (GI), acute febrile respiratory illness (AFRI), ear ailments and eye ailments, compared to non-swimmers. No increased risk was observed for skin ailments among swimmers. For GI and AFRI the risk was correlated with levels of faecal streptococci, while for ear ailments the risk correlated best with levels of faecal coliforms. For eye ailments, the risk of illness was not related to indicator bacteria levels, suggesting that it was not associated with sewage contamination. These trials confirmed the findings of a number of previous observational studies that gastrointestinal illness is the most frequently reported illness associated with swimming, and that it tends to occur at lower indicator bacteria levels than other types of illness. For this reason, the derivation of Guideline Values has been based predominantly on consideration of gastrointestinal illness risks.

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Contact us now for more information: info@Clean-Water-Thailand.com