Water quality at points-of-use in the Galapagos Islands

Gerhard, William A.; Choi, Wan Suk; Houck, Kelly M.; Stewart, J R

doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.01.010

Cited by 32 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Water and sanitation services have not been able to keep up with the demands placed on the system by expanding urban development and the tourism industry. Water quality testing on the provincial capital of San Cristobal has documented high levels of Escherichia coli in household tap water (Gerhard, Choi, Houck, & Stewart, ) and common infectious morbidity from gastrointestinal, respiratory, urinary and skin infections (Walsh et al, ). Island residents are concerned about the quality of municipal water and often resort to buying bottled water for drinking and cooking (Houck, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water, food, and the dual burden of disease in Galápagos, Ecuador

Thompson

Nicholas

Watson

et al. 2019

American J Hum Biol

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Objective: Rapid development in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) has led to changes in diet that have outpaced water and sanitation improvements, contributing to a dual burden of overweight and noncommunicable disease risk factors (OWT/NCD) and undernutrition and infectious disease symptoms (UND/ID) within individuals and households. Yet, little work has examined the joint impact of water and food exposures on the development of the dual burden. Methods: We use data from Ecuador's nationally representative Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición (ENSANUT-ECU) to test whether water access and quality and diet quality and security are associated with OWT/NCD and UND/ID among 1119 children and 1582 adults in Galápagos. Adjusted multinomial and logistic models were used to test the separate and joint associations between water and food exposures and the dual burden and its components at the individual and household levels.Results: The prevalence of the dual burden of OWT/NCD and UND/ID was 16% in children, 33% in adults, and 90% in households. Diet quality was associated with a higher risk of dual burden in individuals and households. Mild food insecurity was positively associated with the risk of dual burden at the household level. No water variable separately predicted the dual burden. Joint exposure to poor water access and food insecurity was associated with greater odds of dual burden in households. Conclusion: Our results suggest that unhealthy diets and poor water quality contribute to the dual burden at the individual and household levels. Addressing both food and water limitations is important in LMIC.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water, food, and the dual burden of disease in Galápagos, Ecuador

Thompson

Nicholas

Watson

et al. 2019

American J Hum Biol

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“…Residents viewed the piped water as unsafe and contaminated, relying on bottled water for drinking and using the contaminated municipal water for household purposes (Guyot‐Tephany, Grenier, & Orellana, ). In 2010, 75% of households on the island had toilets connected to the municipal sewer system and an additional 23% connected to septic tanks (CGREG & INEC, ), yet the waste water treatment facility was also not operational and untreated sewage water was drained into the ocean (Gerhard, Choi, Houck, & Stewart, ). During this time, the island's public hospital reported high rates of water‐borne illnesses and other gastrointestinal (GI) infections consistent with fecal bacteria exposure (CGREG, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With a safely managed, properly functioning DWTP, fecal contamination should not be detectable, water should be clean and the health risk of water‐borne illnesses at should be low (WHO, ). Recent work examining levels of fecal contamination in the municipal distribution network before and after the new DWTP demonstrated marked improvements, but sporadic contamination persisted at the household level (Gerhard et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drinking water improvements and rates of urinary and gastrointestinal infections in Galápagos, Ecuador: Assessing household and community factors

Houck

Terán

Ochoa

et al. 2019

American J Hum Biol

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Objectives:The Galápagos provides an important setting to investigate the health impacts of a new drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) in a limited resource environment. We examine how household perceptions and practices affect the relationship between water quality and infections before and after DWTP.Methods: Ethnographic data and self-reported infections were collected from 121 mothers and 168 children ages 2 to 10 from Isla San Cristóbal. Household tap water samples were tested for levels of fecal contamination. Community level infection rates were estimated using discharge records from the Ministry of Public Health. The effects of the new DWTP and fecal contamination levels on infections were tested using logistic and Poisson models.Results: Perceptions of water quality and household practices influenced exposures to contaminated tap water. We found minimal change in drinking water sources with 85% of mothers sampled before the DWTP and 83% sampled after using bottled water, while >85% from the pooled sample used tap

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“…Moreover, in contrast with the large scholarly attention given to the ecological and biological aspects of Galápagos, literature addressing socio-ecological and policy issues in this archipelago is relatively scarce. There is a small number of studies that focus on very specific issues, such as the governance/management of the Galápagos Marine Reserve [53][54][55], environmental conservation [53,56,57], waste management [57,58], water supply [59,60], tourism [61,62], fishing [63], and socio-ecological interactions [64][65][66][67]. Furthermore, these present a well-defined provincial scope.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The growing number of residents and visitors accentuate issues within the human settlements, such as the deficit of freshwater in most of Galápagos inhabited islands [59], and the pressing need for appropriate systems to treat wastewater [57] and dispose of solid waste [58]. 2.…”

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confidence: 99%

Towards Comprehensive Policy Integration for the Sustainability of Small Islands: A Landscape-Scale Planning Approach for the Galápagos Islands

2018

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Accomplishing and implementing sustainable development goals in the context of insular socio-ecological systems requires effective policy integration-i.e., the integration of policy actors across multiple sectors and levels of government to improve policy outcomes. However, achieving policy integration entails significant challenges because it is highly context-dependent. This study investigates policy integration within the complex socio-ecological context of the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. The paper analyses Galápagos legal and planning documents to evaluate the extent to which they support comprehensive policy integration. The analysis found that recently adopted institutional arrangements have strengthened government institutions at the provincial level, and started to consider concepts relating to socio-ecological and land-sea management. Nevertheless, key policy actors and pressing issues remain unattended, due to policy inconsistencies, institutional arrangements limitations, and fragmented approaches to conservation and development control between provincial and local governments. Insights are presented to improve the comprehensiveness of policy integration in Galápagos based on a landscape-scale planning approach.

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Water quality at points-of-use in the Galapagos Islands

Cited by 32 publications

References 20 publications

Water, food, and the dual burden of disease in Galápagos, Ecuador

Water, food, and the dual burden of disease in Galápagos, Ecuador

Drinking water improvements and rates of urinary and gastrointestinal infections in Galápagos, Ecuador: Assessing household and community factors

Towards Comprehensive Policy Integration for the Sustainability of Small Islands: A Landscape-Scale Planning Approach for the Galápagos Islands

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