Lessons learnt from water parasite outbreak in Devon among topics discussed at CIEH’s first water quality conference

Initial lessons learned from this year's Devon Cryptosporidium outbreak have been shared as part of a new conference for environmental health professionals.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) hosted its first ever Water Quality Conference at a time when the subject of water quality is high on the public and political agenda.

Among the speakers were Dr Lincoln Sargeant, Director of Public Health and Dr Samuel Trethewey, Public Health Registrar, both from Torbay Council, who shared a fascinating insight into the lessons learnt and the challenges that had to be overcome in the face of public and political pressures during the Cryptosporidium outbreak.

At least 100 cases were confirmed of people suffering from diarrhoeal illness with thousands of homes in the area issued with boil water notices during the outbreak earlier this year.

The role of social media in shaping the narrative of the outbreak was something that provided a modern challenge to the public health response, making joined-up communication particularly important, according to the speakers.

Another high-profile case study was also discussed during the conference, the discovery of so-called ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water in South Cambridgeshire in 2022.

Rob Lewis, Principal Commercial Officer at South Cambridgeshire District Council, took the audience through how perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) was discovered in drinking water supplied to houses close to Duxford Airfield and the ensuing response.

One of the main focuses of the conference was challenges around the regulatory framework for private water supplies, particularly Regulation 8 which covers where consumers indirectly receive water from a water company’s system via a third party.

Phil Smart, an Inspector at the Drinking Water Inspectorate, presented on what the current regulations state and the need for more clarity as he felt there is too much ambiguity and confusion in the guidelines as they stand.

He was followed by Christian Polzin, Environmental Health Team Leader at South Kesteven District Council, who argued that the current framework around private water supplies is “overly and unnecessarily burdensome on stretched council resources”.

He sparked an interesting debate on whether responsibility needed to shift from local authorities to a responsible person who would be required to employ a competent person to risk assess supply, perhaps introducing a database of approved competent persons similar to the Gas Safety Register.

Private water consultant and trainer David Clapham presented on the story of private water supplies and regulation since 1988 to add context to the debate.

There was also an illuminating contribution from Alex Dudfield, Engagement Lead in the Network Protection Team at Thames Water, on fats, oils and grease and the devastating impact of sewage flooding caused by poor grease management within food businesses.

And Elaine Rudman, Trustee of Water for Kids, spoke passionately about the vital work the charity is doing to improve the health and wellbeing of children and communities in low-income countries through the provision of safe water, good sanitation and other related public health measures where current provision is absent or inadequate.

Mark Elliott, President of CIEH, who opened and closed the event, said:

"Our first Water Quality Conference was a huge success thanks to the enlightening and engaging contributions of our speakers who sparked some really insightful debate and provided information that will be of great benefit to our members.

"An adequate, wholesome, safe water supply is a human right and environmental health professionals have a critical role to play in the work being done to maintain and improve the integrity of our water supply. I’m sure those members and all who attended the conference went away thoroughly informed and inspired."