There are no federal standards for cryptosporidium in drinking water, which three years ago was blamed for the death of 110 people in Milwaukee when the city's drinking water became contaminated. The new rule, which requires extensive monitoring and record keeping beginning no later than the end of the year, is a step in a long-range effort to write federal standards for protecting drinking water against the parasite. A report by retired University of Toronto epidemiologist Donald McLaughlin in this months Neurology says that Ontario residents with Alzheimer's are 1.2 to 2.6 times as likely to have lived for at least 10 years in areas where the drinking water contained more than 100 micrograms per litre of aluminum. The level is exceeded by many municipal water supplies. Aluminum is used to remove solid material before the water is pumped out to homes.
Water drawn from rivers is more likely to require treatment than lake water.
Well water rarely reuires such a treatment. Health Canada will meet with provincial water officials in August to work on a national guideline for aluminum in water. A Health Canada person described McLaughlin's work as controversial. Keeping with the water theme, the International Red Cross Water presented a paper at a seminar on water and armed conflict which stated that water is increasingly being used as a weapon in wars, with fighters poisoning wells, destroying water works and attacking civilians searching for water. The attacks expose civilians to dehydration and fatal diseases like cholera, typhoid and dysentery.