Assessment of inadequately filtered public drinking water--Washington, D.C., December 1993

Abstract

The risk for waterborne infectious diseases increases when filtration and other standard water-treatment measures fail. On December 6, 1993, water-treatment plant operators in the District of Columbia (DC) began to have difficulty maintaining optimal filter effectiveness. On December 7, filter performance worsened, and levels of turbidity (i.e., small suspended particles) exceeded those permitted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. On December 8, DC residents were advised to boil water intended for drinking because of high municipal water turbidity that may have included microbial contaminants. Although adequate chlorination of the DC municipal water was maintained throughout the period of increased turbidity, the parasite Cryptosporidium parvum is highly resistant to chlorination. Because of the increased risk for infection with this organism and other enteric pathogens, the DC Commission of Public Health and CDC conducted four investigations to determine whether excess cases of diarrheal illness occurred because residents drank inadequately filtered water. This report describes the results of these investigations.