PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Scientific evidence shows that people who live in areas where water is low in calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) are more prone to cardiovascular disease than people in hard-water areas. They also have higher incidence of respiratory and gastrointestinal problems and diabetes. The two minerals are present in soluble ionic form in water and are thus directly transferred to cells, where they are involved in many enzymatic processes. Even a diet rich in calcium and magnesium cannot fully compensate for daily intake from drinking water. There are currently no limit-values required by law for calcium and magnesium levels in drinking water.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE - Water and Health project targeted long-term improvement in residents’ health through the re-carbonisation of drinking water. It aimed to carry out biomonitoring of the arterial stiffness of residents before and after calcium and magnesium were added to drinking water in two Slovak towns with soft water. It aimed to use available statistics to assess impacts on respiratory health, diabetes and other conditions. Based on its findings, the project would propose optimum levels of water hardness for human health and have these standards incorporated into national and international guidelines.
LIFE – Water and Health directly contributed to the implementation of the Environment Action Programme to 2020 (7th EAP) and Health 2020: the European policy for health and well-being.
RESULTS
The project achieved two key foreseen results:
- The improvement of drinking water quality for two water sources used for public supply by increasing Ca and Mg contents at defined optimal levels.
Favourable effects on human health through the deployment of 2 prototypes for water re-carbonisation were recorded. While the project would directly target about 3 300 residents living in area of about 30 km2, the results could indirectly impact about 1 000 000 inhabitants from other areas (covering about 10 000 km2) with soft drinking water. 2 prototypes were installed in Devicie (302 inhabitants; the yield of the source is 11 000 m3/year) and in Kokava nad Rimavicou (3 000 inhabitants; the yield of the source 100 000 m3/year). Thanks to water re-carbonisation, the concentrations of Ca increased by 8-15 mg/l in both drinking water sources and the concentrations of Mg by 10-15 mg/l.
- Positive impacts on human health conditioned by improvement of drinking water quality in 2 municipalities.
During the baseline survey in 2021, the difference between the real and arterial age was 25.13 years for Devicie and 10.46 years for Kokava nad Rimavicou. Already within 18 months since the start of re-carbonisation, the average arterial age of the respondents from Devicie decreased by 14.7-16 years. In Kokava nad Rimavicou, the arterial age decreased by 6.8-7.2 years. The results of biomonitoring confirm the overall success of the project’s approach.
This long-term impacts on human health will need long-term monitoring. This is planned first through biomonitoring of arterial stiffness and subsequent determination of the arterial age of residents before and then after 1 year and 2 years of drinking water treated with re-carbonisation. The second method of monitoring will deploy the analysis of changes in health status of residents based on available statistical data on health indicators on the main causes of deaths in Slovakia. This can be quantified only in a long-term horizon based on a comparison of health data collected before and after continuous operation of technological measure deployed. In case of cardiovascular diseases, the improvement of health status of residents can be expected within 0.5–2 years. In case of other types of diseases (e.g., oncological, respiratory, endocrine system – diabetes etc.), a longer time horizon (2–5 years) is projected to reach the positive effect of measures deployed. The monitoring will continue during 3–5 years after the end of the project within the After-LIFE Plan.
