Tackling Cholera With Waste Management

In western countries, waste management is used to keep the population disease free, not a luxury that some third world countries can afford. Without adequate management of household waste, wastewater and industrial waste, contamination can compromise the health of whole communities. Diseases such as cholera may be a thing of the past as far as those living in the developed world are concerned, but there are still hundreds of thousands of cases reported each year. Preventing the spread of the disease and the deaths that occur from contracting the disease could be a simple process with effective waste management procedures.

Cholera is contracted by eating food or drinking water that is contaminated with the bacterium cholera. One of the most prevalent areas for the spread of the disease is in Africa, where waste management facilities are not available in many areas. Although associated with third world countries, it was only just over a century ago when the city of London was suffering the devastating effects of this disease. The Government addressed the need for improved sanitation once the connection was made between sanitation and cholera and as such, the disease is a thing of the past in the UK.

Sewage is taken away and treated before it is returned to the natural environment and drinking water is treated to ensure that no harmful bacteria are present. Cholera thrives in aquatic environments, and as such, it is essential that waste water is treated to prevent the development or spread of the disease. A common way of ensuring that waste water is adequately treated is by using chlorine to kill the bacteria in the water. Other methods such as ultra violet light treatment, or the use of ozone can stop the spread of cholera.

The disease is one of the most deadly in the world, with some cases resulting in death within just 18 hours of the onset of the first symptoms. These symptoms are severe diarrhoea, vomiting, dangerously low blood pressure and in some cases a fever. The main threat comes from dehydration, which is why in some areas of Africa the disease is rife as well as deadly. As patients are given water to rehydrate, they are in fact consuming more of the disease ridden water. In many cases, the waste products produced by the illness end up in the same water systems that people rely on to drink, thus perpetuating the spread of the disease.

Using waste management facilities to clean effluent has the potential to prevent the spread of the disease and as such prevent the deaths that occur in abundance each year. It was a strategy that worked in all the countries we currently consider 'clean', although they too suffered the consequences of cholera not so long ago.