September 2, 2006
Knight-Ridder Tribune
James Hohmann, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.
Health officials across the Bay Area acknowledged Friday that public fountains are not inspected for the dangerous microbes that sickened at least seven people who played in the water at San Jose's Plaza de Cesar Chavez. In fact, they said, they d on't even know where all those fountains are.
A day after San Jose announced the closure of the popular downtown water feature because the city cannot assure its safety, it became clear that dozens of fountains in at least four counties are also falling through the regulatory cracks. And officials promised to move swiftly to close the gap -- although it is not clear what they need to do or how long it will take.
Health officials have long known of the danger of Cryptosporidium -- a parasite that sickened seven children who played in the plaza fountain this summer -- in public swimming pools, and those bodies of water are subject to inspection. But fountains are n ot -- even though the new generation of interactive fountains, like the one at the plaza, invite water play.
"There has not been any oversight or inspections or testing of the fountains," said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County's public-health director. Officials in Alameda County, San Mateo County and San Francisco echoed his comments.
Meanwhile, San Jose on Friday closed a second fountain, the one located at McEnery Park on San Fernando Street, because it has no better filtration system than the one at the plaza. Some of the newest fountains do include systems that can remove Cryptospo ridium.
"We have no indication to show that this parasite has been found in this particular water attraction area, but just to err on the side of caution, we'll turn it off for the time being," said Ed Bautista, a spokesman for the city parks and recreation depar tment.
Senior health officials from Santa Clara, Alameda and Santa Cruz counties, and San Francisco, acknowledged that they don't know where the fountains are located or even how many exist within their jurisdictions.
But they told the Mercury News that they would rethink their guidelines and rules -- and would consider requiring warning signs, meeting with operators and creating an inventory of how many and what kinds of fountains there are. Other possible changes cou ld include stricter rules about allowing babies in the fountains or more stringent policing to prevent animals -- and their feces -- from contaminating the water source. Fecal contamination is the main source of Cryptosporidium.
A first step for the counties will be identifying every interactive fountain and figuring out whether its filtration system is adequate to resist "crypto."
Friday, representatives from the Santa Clara County public and environmental health departments met with city, water district and San Jose Water Company officials to talk about responding to recent cases of infection, which also causes nausea and cramps.
"It's a case of finding out what is required, what the costs are and what the options are to see where we go from here," said Lindsey Wolf, a representative of the city's environmental-services department.
Test results were confirmed Friday; the plaza's fountain water was probably infected by a human or animal. After the water was contaminated, it was circulated over and over again by the fountain's recycling system.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist Dr. Michael Beach compared the water in the fountain to communal bathing water. He said the fountains are just like swimming pools.
"We've got a number of Cryptosporidium outbreaks going on across the country," he said.
In Alameda County, supervising environmental-health specialist Cynthia Bartus Jepsen said the latest outbreak will cause her agency, which has no records of fountains, to be far more proactive.
"Sometimes these parks install fountains and because there's no requirement for them to have a permit, we don't know about it," she said.
Since the Chavez fountain was built in 1989, filtering technology has improved dramatically. New micro-filters can strain out more particles, Beach said.
A fountain in San Jose's Willow Glen area has a system that continually pumps in and out fresh, potable water. But this method uses more water and is more expensive to operate.
When hundreds became infected with crypto in New York last year, the state enacted new rules requiring all fountains to treat the water returning through the pumps with ultraviolet light that can destroy potentially dangerous bacteria.
The California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health released guidelines for fountains in 2001, but they have not been widely implemented. Richard Fuchs, director of the consumer protection division in the Santa Clara County department of enviro nmental health, said he understood that those guidelines are supposed to be included within the new swimming pool regulations that the California Department of Health Services is working on. Officials there did not immediately respond to requests for comm ent.
Parents expressed concerns about the news that the water could have been infected for nearly a month.
Pamela Emanuel said she brought her 5-year-old son, Morris, to the fountain for his birthday July 24 and had to take him to the hospital a few days later with symptoms largely matching cryptosporidiosis. She said he was ill for weeks and speculated that t he fountain might have been a cause.
Even after hearing about the dangers, Mike Calise said he just couldn't say no to his 4- and 7-year-old girls when they wanted to play in the fountain at the Los Gatos town plaza. But he said he hopes regulations are beefed up soon.
"Where it happens once, it can happen again," he said. "We'd certainly like to see regular testing. We look forward to a more widespread investigation about whether this problem exists in different areas."
