Call for a New Standard for Water Quality in Health Care Facilities

There is a growing awareness about the threat to patient safety from exposure to contaminated water in health care facilities. Health care facilities contain vulnerable populations with diminished immune function who are especially likely to acquire a nosocomial infection. Contaminated water contributes to increased morbidity and mortality.

Most health care water systems do not regulated for all pathogens. When testing is performed it may be limited to only a select pathogen such as Legionella. Despite the fact that Cryptosporidium parvum wreaks havoc worldwide and the Giardia parasite is the most common intestinal parasite worldwide, infecting an estimated 200 million people each year. Even in the United States each year, about 250 people in every 10,000 contract giardiasis from public drinking water.

Throughout the world municipal distribution systems allow undesirable pollutants to infiltrate clean water. These pollutants include pharmaceuticals, volatile organic compounds, microbes and other chemicals. Health care facilities usually rely on municipal water systems to provide safe drinking, bathing and cleaning water for their facility.

The United States has one of the safest water supplies in the world. However, national statistics don't tell you specifically about the quality and safety of the water coming into each health care facility. That's because water quality varies from place to place, depending on the condition of the source water from which it is drawn and the treatment it receives. There are cost effective methods to test and treat the water quality in health care facilities.