A water-treatment plant in Provo is being enlisted in the fight against the cryptosporidium parasite, which can be deadly when it gets into public drinking-water systems.
The Central Utah Water Conservancy District is one of 14 utilities participating in a study of ways to remove the parasite from drinking water.The study is being conducted by Southern Nevada Water Authority, Oregon Health Sciences University and the consulting firm Montgomery Watson.
Their goal is to prevent an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis, the disease blamed for killing 100 people, sending 4,400 to the hospital and sickening another 400,000 in the Milwaukee area in April 1993.
Less severe outbreaks in Las Vegas, Oregon, Idaho and Maine also have been blamed on the parasite.
"This is such a critical, potential problem that when the opportunity came for us to get involved, I encouraged (district manager) David Pitcher to jump in with both feet," said Don Christiansen, general manager of the district that is overseeing completion of the Central Utah Project.
"You only need one case before you lose the confidence of all your water users," Christiansen added.
Pitcher told the district's policy-making board recently that the study's timing coincides well with plans to expand the district-operated Utah Valley Water Treatment Plant in Provo.
The plant is approved to treat 42 million gallons of water daily for Provo and Orem. District officials are trying to decide how much to enlarge it. A small expansion could require construction of a second plant in northern Utah County once the CUP starts delivering large quantities of water from the Uinta Mountains to the Wasatch Front.
Cryptosporidium is a waterborne parasite much smaller than giardia but with health effects as bad or worse. While it generally causes severe diarrhea and nausea, it can be fatal to transplant recipients and people with diminished immune systems (from AIDS or cancer treatments).
Because it is so small, cryptosporidium may be able to sneak through treatment-plant filtration systems like those in Provo. "That's why it's critical to look at disinfectants to kill the parasite," Pitcher said.
But it is not simple. The Centers for Disease Control has found that cryptosporidium is resistant to chlorine and bleach.
Last year, 37 people in Lane County, Ore., suffered severe diarrhea after they were exposed to cryptosporidium in a wave pool that had ample chlorination. Later in 1994, 230 children in Maine missed a week of school with bloody diarrhea after drinking apple cider at an agricultural fair that unknowingly had been tainted by the parasite.