International Action, a non-profit group based in Washington, D.C., has helped provide safe water to more than 400,000 poor Haitians with the help of chlorination equipment from Norwalk Wastewater Equipment Company (Norweco), a manufacturer of water and wastewater treatment products, systems and chemicals.

The company worked for fifteen years to adapt its equipment for use in small drinking water systems after learning of the extreme need of people in poor countries. Norweco's chlorinator is now used in about 20 countries.

Experts say the largest killer of children in all developing countries is waterborne disease such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis and chronic diarrhea which lead to the premature and avoidable deaths of 2.6 million children each year. For $265, International Action can install a water chlorinator that lasts a generation and will help provide up to 10,000 people with safe drinking water. They recently joined forces with a Haitian organization to install 100 cholinators in 23 of the poorest neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince resulting in 400,000 residents receiving clean, safe water for the first time.

The unique thing about International Action's project is the chlorine lasts in the water for days. Treated water will even overcome bacteria in containers used to carry the water. International Action is proof that chlorine is becoming a major force for public health in Haiti.

To learn more about International Action's water projects, please visit:
International Action

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released The Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities, 2008. The guidance presents evidence-based recommendations on the preferred methods for cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of patient-care medical devices and for cleaning and disinfecting the healthcare environment.

The guidelines include recommendations designed to reduce rates of healthcare-associated infections through appropriate use of both disinfection and sterilization. Specific recommendations address a range of topics, including:

• cleaning of patient care devices
• indications for sterilization
• high-level disinfection
• low-level disinfection
• selection and use of disinfectants for noncritical patient-care devices
• cleaning and disinfecting environmental surfaces in healthcare facilities

This guidance presents a pragmatic approach to the selection and proper use of disinfection and sterilization processes, which is based on well-designed studies assessing the efficacy (through laboratory investigations) and effectiveness (through clinical studies) of disinfection and sterilization procedures.

A range of disinfectants for patient-care equipment is covered in the guidance, and notes that the choice of disinfectant, the appropriate concentration, and exposure times are based on the risk for infection associated with use of the equipment and as well as other factors.

To read more, please visit:
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Bleach is commonly used as a disinfectant, but until now, researchers have been unable to explain just how bleach works to kill bacteria.

Writing in the journal Cell, researchers describe, for the first time, the action of ordinary bleach on proteins in bacteria. First, the proteins unfold in a manner similar to proteins undergoing heat-related stress, then clump together in a manner similar to that of the proteins in a cooking hard-boiled egg.

These findings are discussed in a podcast, sponsored by Dow Chemical, which features an interview with Dr. Ursula Jakob, Associate Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who made these discoveries which researching a related topic.

To listen to this podcast, please visit:
NPR's Science Friday

A group of academics, environmentalists, and lawmakers claim a potent combination of Supreme Court decisions, Bush administration regulatory actions, and congressional inaction-coupled with recent droughts and the specter of more pronounced problems from climate change-ha helped create crises of both water quality and water availability over the past decade.

These groups are hopeful that the new administration and the next Congress will address the country's water problems, including its dwindling supplies, inadequate environmental protections, and stalled cleanup efforts.

At the top of their priority list:

• reviving federal laws-particularly the Clean Water Act-that have been weakened or narrowly interpreted in recent years,
• boosting funding for the nation's faltering and aging water infrastructure, and
• strengthening the Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of water pollution from industry and power plants.

Many of these priorities appear to align with those of Barack Obama. As recently as last week, he stressed the need for infrastructure improvement. During the campaign, he touted his support for water protection in battleground states like Florida, pledging to help protect and restore the Florida Everglades. His campaign advisers say he will support legislation to restore the full scope of environmental laws that were weakened under the current administration.

To read more, please visit:
US News & World Report

In The News-is a bi-weekly, online service from the Water Quality & Health Council.  The publication is updated every other Friday and can be viewed by logging onto www.waterandhealth.org.  To receive the publication via e-mail, please click here and enter your e-mail address to join our mailing list.