Private water supplies in Wales: information to support public health priorities

在英国一些地区，私人供水(PWS)被相当大比例的家庭使用。化学和物理因素都有可能影响PWS使用者的健康。PWS的化学质量可能会有很大差异，这取决于抽取它们的地表或地下水的组成，以及供水的基础设施和处理方法。最近的公共卫生英格兰/NERC-BGS研究表明，PWS使用者经常不进行治疗以提高化学质量，或者不维护他们的治疗系统。PWS自来水的质量不能假设从其自然状态得到改善，而且可能比饮用水标准差得多。所有规模的利益攸关方(家庭、地方和国家)更好地了解影响水质的因素的分布是重要的。我们已经确定，目前评估威尔士国家和区域水质优先事项的努力受到双向知识障碍的阻碍。利益攸关方不知道可以在其评估中使用的大量NERC数据资源，而NERC数据持有者对利益攸关方的需求以及如何最有效地提出和传播数据没有足够的了解。直接采用国家环境研究中心数据的障碍包括：当前格式(硬拷贝或数字文件)；化学元素映射格式(可能将浓度范围划分为任意区间，无法显示与用户相关的阈值)；需要使用一个以上变量的定制指数(如铅溶解能力)；公共机构官员面临的资源压力(如时间、专门知识、计算、地理信息系统)。为确定在国家或区域范围内应采取什么行动(如果有的话)而收集证据基础，由于缺乏在任何数据库中系统登记最流行的PWS类型，即：“单人住宅住宅”(Single Domestic Dellings)。SDDW用户不必向地方当局登记他们的供应，在威尔士，85%的注册PWS是SDW。在各级治理中，人们普遍认识到，比官方记录的12,242个特别提款权要多得多。改进对这些财产位置的估计，可以帮助国家和地方政府评估地球空间控制因素(例如，金属浓度高和易受干旱影响)产生的风险，并将其列为优先事项。最近由NERC资助的研究已经建立了一个空间分辨的、预测威尔士可能发生PWS的模型。为了发挥其潜在影响，现在需要在区域和国家一级与主要利益攸关方分享这项工作。将制定具体的例子，指出在未来天气情况下，大量PWS用户与预期的高风险事件(如洪水、干旱)重合的地区，并允许更好地了解边缘吸入者面临的压力。持续的组织间和个人之间的沟通将确保本项目的成功进展。在总体一级，这将通过积极参与现有的国家论坛--水健康伙伴关系--以及向主要地方当局和公共机构办公室(公共卫生威尔士、威尔士水务公司、威尔士自然资源公司、波伊斯县议会)提供短期借调来实现。面向外部的沟通，也就是商定的关键信息，被嵌入到后来的活动中。将使用网络、移动和选定的更传统的机制，以确保在私人供水用户中尽可能公平和广泛地推广服务。项目报告将以英语和威尔士语提供。KEYWORDS：私人供水；铅；干旱；洪水；锰；公共卫生。

Private water supplies (PWS) are used by a significant proportion of households in some British regions. Chemical and physical factors both have the potential to impact upon the well-being of PWS users.The chemical quality of PWS can vary greatly, dependent on the composition of the surface or groundwater from which they are drawn, and the infrastructure and treatment of the water supply. Recent Public Health England/NERC-BGS research has shown that PWS users often do not treat to improve chemical quality, or do not maintain their treatment systems. PWS tap water quality cannot be assumed to be improved from its natural state, and may be significantly worse than drinking water standards. It is important stakeholders across all scales (household, local and national) better understand the distribution of factors which influence water quality.We have established that current efforts to assess national and regional water quality priorities in Wales are hindered by a two-way knowledge barrier. Stakeholders are unaware of the large NERC data resource which could be used in their assessments, whilst NERC data holders do not have sufficient understanding of stakeholders' needs, and how the data can be most usefully presented and disseminated. Barriers to direct uptake of this NERC data include: the current format (hard-copy or digital documents); chemical element mapping formats (which may divide the concentration range into arbitrary intervals and not show thresholds of relevance to users); bespoke indices using more than one variable are needed (e.g. plumbosolvency); and, resource pressures on public body officers (e.g. time, expertise, computing, GIS).A further problem exists which NERC data can contribute to resolving. Assembling the evidence base to determine what, if any, action should be undertaken at national or regional scales is compromised by the lack of systematic registration, in any database, of the most prevalent type of PWS, i.e. "Single Domestic Dwellings" (SDDW). SDDW users are not compelled to register their supply with the Local Authority, and in Wales, 85% of registered PWS are SDDWs. There is widespread awareness, at all levels of governance, that there are considerably more than the officially recorded 12,242 SDDWs. Improved estimates of the locations of these properties, can help national and local government assess, and prioritise, risks arising from geospatially controlled factors (e.g. high metal concentration and vulnerability to drought). Recent NERC-funded research has built a spatially resolved, predictive model of the likely occurrence of PWS in Wales. In order to fulfil its potential impact, this work now needs to be shared with the key stakeholders at regional and national level. Specific examples will be developed that indicate regions where large numbers of PWS users coincide with expected high risks of events (e.g. flooding, drought) under future weather scenarios, and allow an improved understanding of pressures on marginal aquifers.Sustained inter-organisational and inter-personal communication will ensure the successful progress of this project. At an overarching level this will be achieved through active participation in an existing national forum, the Water Health Partnership, and by undertaking short-term secondments into key Local Authority and public body offices (Public Health Wales, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Natural Resources Wales, Powys County Council). Outward facing communication, of agreed key messages, is embedded into later activities. Web, mobile and selected more traditional mechanisms will be used to ensure that outreach is as equitable and widespread across private water supply users as possible. Project reports will be available in both English and Welsh.KEYWORDS: private water supply; lead; drought; flooding; manganese; public health.