title: Food and water security issues in Russia II: water security in general population of Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East, 2000-2011.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Poor state of water supply systems, shortage of water purification facilities and disinfection systems, low quality of drinking water generally in Russia and particularly in the regions of the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East have been defined in the literature. However, no standard protocol of water security assessment has been used in the majority of studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Uniform water security indicators collected from Russian official statistical sources for the period 2000-2011 were used for comparison for 18 selected regions in the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East. The following indicators of water security were analyzed: water consumption, chemical and biological contamination of water reservoirs of Categories I and II of water sources (centralized--underground and surface, and non-centralized) and of drinking water.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Water consumption in selected regions fluctuated from 125 to 340 L/person/day. Centralized water sources (both underground and surface sources) are highly contaminated by chemicals (up to 40-80%) and biological agents (up to 55% in some regions), mainly due to surface water sources. Underground water sources show relatively low levels of biological contamination, while chemical contamination is high due to additional water contamination during water treatment and transportation in pipelines. Non-centralized water sources are highly contaminated (both chemically and biologically) in 32-90% of samples analyzed. Very high levels of chemical contamination of drinking water (up to 51%) were detected in many regions, mainly in the north-western part of the Russian Arctic. Biological contamination of drinking water was generally much lower (2.5-12%) everywhere except Evenki AO (27%), and general and thermotolerant coliform bacteria predominated in drinking water samples from all regions (up to 17.5 and 12.5%, correspondingly). The presence of other agents was much lower: Coliphages--0.2-2.7%, Clostridia spores, Giardia cysts, pathogenic bacteria, Rotavirus--up to 0.8%. Of a total of 56 chemical pollutants analyzed in water samples from centralized water supply systems, 32 pollutants were found to be in excess of hygienic limits, with the predominant pollutants being Fe (up to 55%), Cl (up to 57%), Al (up to 43%) and Mn (up to 45%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In 18 selected regions of the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East Category I and II water reservoirs, water sources (centralized--underground, surface; non-centralized) and drinking water are highly contaminated by chemical and biological agents. Full-scale reform of the Russian water industry and water security system is urgently needed, especially in selected regions.
authors.affiliation: Northwest Public Health Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexey A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Dudarev
authors.affiliation: Northwest Public Health Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Eugenia V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Dushkina
authors.affiliation: Northwest Public Health Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Yuliya N
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Sladkova
authors.affiliation: Northwest Public Health Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Pavel R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Alloyarov
authors.affiliation: Northwest Public Health Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Valery S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Chupakhin
authors.affiliation: Dubna City Hospital, Moscow Oblast, Russia.
authors.forename: Vitaliy M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Dorofeyev
authors.affiliation: Northwest Public Health Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Tatjana A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Kolesnikova
authors.affiliation: Northwest Public Health Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Kirill B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Fridman
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Clinical Microbiology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden ; Arcum, Arctic Research Centre at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Evengard
authors.affiliation: Arcum, Arctic Research Centre at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden ; Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Nutritional Research, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lena M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Nilsson
mesh_terms: D001110:Arctic Regions; D004326:Drinking; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology; D005202:Asia, Eastern; D006801:Humans; D012426:Russia; D012499:Sanitation / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D012722:Sewage / Q000032:analysis; D012800:Siberia; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D060753:Water Quality / Q000592:standards*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D012722:Sewage; D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Russian Arctic; bacteria; biological contamination; centralized; chemical; cysts; drinking water; metals; non-centralized water sources; pesticides; pollutants; spores; virus; water security