Water Pollution

The Broad Street Well Disaster-1854

June 24, 2015
Sonia Wright: I.D. # 11960389
BIOL 265: Principles of Environmental Health

Introduction

THE cholera epidemic in the St. James's district of Westminster

in 1854 was perhaps the most terrible outbreak of that disease
which this country has ever known-terrible because of its
virulence and local concentration. More than five hundred

people who lived or worked within an area only a few

hundred yards square died of the disease in ten days.

Aim & Objectives

To inform the readers on :
what is water pollution

Causes and effects

What caused the Broad Street Well Epidemic
Who was John Snow
What was his contribution to Broad Street Well Disaster
The solution to the epidemic

Water Pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of natural water bodies by

chemical, physical, radioactive or pathogenic microbial substances.

Causes of water pollution

Sewage from domestic households, factories and commercial buildings Sewage
that is treated in water treatment plants is often disposed into the sea. Sewage
can be more problematic when people flush chemicals and pharmaceutical
substances down the toilet.
Dumping solid wastes and littering by humans in rivers, lakes and
oceans. Littering items include cardboard, Styrofoam, aluminum, plastic and
glass.
Industrial waste from factories, which use freshwater to carry waste from the
plant into rivers, contaminates waters with pollutants such as asbestos, lead,
mercury and petrochemicals.

Causes

Oil Pollution caused by oil spills from tankers and oil from ship travel. Oil does
not dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge.
Burning fossil fuels into the air causes the formation of acidic particles in the
atmosphere. When these particles mix with water vapor, the result is acid rain.
An increase in water temperature is caused by global warming and thermal

plants that use lakes and rivers to cool down mechanical equipment.

Effects
round water contamination from pesticides causes reproductive

damage within wildlife in ecosystems.

Sewage, fertilizer, and agricultural run-off contain organic materials

that when discharged into waters, increase the growth of algae, which
causes the depletion of oxygen. The low oxygen levels are not able to
support most indigenous organisms in the area and therefore upset the
natural ecological balance in rivers and lakes.

Effects

Swimming in and drinking contaminated water causes skin rashes and

health problems like cancer, reproductive problems, typhoid fever and
stomach sickness in humans. Which is why its very important to make
sure that your water is clean and safe to drink.

Effects

Industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides that end up in aquatic

environments can accumulate in fish that are later eaten by humans. Fish
are easily poisoned with metals that are also later consumed by
humans. Mercury is particularly poisonous to small children and
women. Mercury has been found to interfere with the development of
the nervous system in fetuses and young children.

EFFECTS
Ecosystems are destroyed by the rising temperature in the water, as
coral reefs are affected by the bleaching effect due to warmer
temperatures. Additionally, the warm water forces indigenous water
species to seek cooler water in other areas, causing an ecological
damaging shift of the affected area.
Human-produced litter of items such as plastic bags and 6-pack rings
can get aquatic animals caught and killed from suffocation.

Effects

Water pollution causes flooding due to the accumulation of solid waste

and soil erosion in streams and rivers.
Oil spills in the water causes animal to die when they ingest it or
encounter it. Oil does not dissolve in water so it causes suffocation in
fish and birds

The Broad Street Well Disaster

In the 19th century, drinking water was provided to residents by several

competing water companies who operated public pumps in water
districts around the city. Most of these companies pumped their water
directly out of the polluted Thames river.
In the fall of 1854, 500 people died in just ten days in the center of London in

the worst of a series of cholera outbreaks.

RISK ASSESSMENT
John Snow did a thorough investigation in the Broad Street Pump
Disaster and made a breakthrough. His determination of the cause
led him to go up against the establishment and argue that
something other than foul air was casing the deadly cholera.

(McGuire 2013)

Risk Management

Snow convinced the Board of Governors and Directors of the Poor of St.
James Parish that the epidemic was being caused by water from the
pump and petitioned that the handle be removed.

Conclusion

According to popular legend that sprang up in the years following the

epidemic the outbreak immediately stopped once the handle was
removed. However skeptics criticized that the epidemic was already in
decline but later proved that if it did not stopped it , it prevented another
outbreak of the disease cholera.