Tapping into cross border water flows
11 December 2006
Water and public health experts met at a conference funded by The European Union INTERREG IIIA last week to call for greater cross border collaboration in relation to the management of contamination incidents in drinking water supplies.
In a crisis situation, many different agencies on both sides of the border must react immediately. It is therefore important that all are familiar with the relevant personnel and organisations in the opposite jurisdiction so that any cross border response to a potential water contamination incident is effectively managed.
The conference, which took place in Letterkenny was attended by representatives from the both sides of the border including environmental health, water service, scientific staff and public health professionals. The event focused on the challenges which need to be addressed in order to ensure that health risks associated with a contaminated water situation can be successfully managed.
A current cross border initiative, involving Co-operation and Working Together (CAWT) and the Water Service to map all cross border water connectors using specialist technology was highlighted as making a valuable contribution to the aims of the event. This initiative has also developed a useful publication which includes the key contacts on both sides of the border in a water contamination outbreak situation.
Speaking about the background to the conference, Joan Mc Caffrey, Project Manager for the CAWT Cross Border Health Protection Policies project said: “The border does not provide a barrier to the spread of infectious agents, on the contrary it can assist the spread of disease if there is inadequate communication and contact between the relevant public health guardians and water providers on either side of the border. Given that there are a number of areas along the border where drinking water supplies, both mains and private, are sourced from water which originates in the other jurisdiction, this was viewed as priority area in which to develop a cross border approach. Indeed, our project has been working over the past couple of years to facilitate the development of cross border plans and policies for a variety of infectious diseases, many of which are now in place.”
Peter Finnegan, Specialist in Public Health Medicine, HSE Dublin North East and a member of the CAWT cross border public health sub group commented on the importance of the conference. He stated: “this event has brought together all the relevant partners involved in the delivery of public and private water supplies and will enable us begin the process of harmonising our respective approaches for the control of waterborne outbreaks on a cross border level.”
Keynote speaker, Mr Peter Davies, Deputy Head of the Health Protection Agency in Wales who has previously been involved in major incidences of chemical contamination of drinking water and is an expert in the field of investigation of such incidents said: “an integrated view on incident management is essential to ensure any outbreak or incident is dealt with expediently. A multi disciplinary input is a necessity. This conference provides a pre-requisite to the establishment of such a forum.”
Over the two days a range of other speakers involved in the enforcement and regulation of water quality addressed the conference. Randall Scott, Head of the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) in Northern Ireland outlined the unique regulatory role of the DWI for public and private water supplies in Northern Ireland. Ruth Rodgers, Public Relations Manager for the SHSSB highlighted the communication issues and challenges in the event of a crisis situation. CAWT’s cross border Public Health sub group plan to issue a report on the conference and to continue to collaborate to address the issues raised.