Public health must be central to future investment in a new wastewater system to protect people from waterborne diseases, the chief medical officer for England , Prof Chris Whitty, has said. Reducing people’s risk of coming into contact with human faecal pathogens in untreated and treated sewage discharged into rivers and coastal waters must be a priority, a report by the Royal Academy of Engineering said. Whitty, who commissioned the report, said the creation of a wastewater system in the 19th century had ended the cholera outbreaks and was still one of the great triumphs of public health.
There needed to be a similar focus today on the need to protect public health in the management of wastewater systems, alongside protecting the environment and ensuring affordability, he said. “Public waterways are a great resource enjoyed by many children and adults and can have a significant positive impact on our health. Minimising human faecal organisms in fresh water is a public health priority as well as an environmental one,” said Whitty.
“Whilst there will always be challenges with the efficient management of sewers and sewage treatment works, this report provides clear technical options for how this can realistically be achieved.” He spoke as South West Water faced criticism for an outbreak of diarrhoea in Brixham, south Devon, and surrounding areas, caused by cryptosporidiosis, a waterborne disease caused by a microscopic parasite in water systems. More than 14,000 hous.
