Your "Viewpoint" in the February 2004 issue of WWI on the occurrence of lead in the drinking water supply to Washington D. C. was not only interesting but also highly alarming.
Engineers and hydrologists, like me, working in developing countries tend to assume that problems, such as (1) lack of maintenance of old water supply facilities; (2) lack of adequate capital inflow into water supply sector; (3) non-coordination between agencies involved in water supply; (4) efforts from authorities to suppress facts and; (5) victimisation of honest people trying to bring out the truth to public attention, are the monopoly of only developing countries and are rarely found in the western world, at least in the USA.
Five months have passed since this "Viewpoint" was published. I would like to know about the follow-up. Kindly inform the readers of WWI what has happened to the Washington D. C. water supply since February and especially to Ms. Seema Bhat, who was seemingly victimised. Have the politicians and policy makers in DC been suddenly awakened to the realities in the complex scenario of water supply?
Kind regards and keep up the good work!
Shrikant D. Limaye
Vice-President (Asia), International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)
President, Association of Geoscientists for International Development (AGID)
Director, Ground Water Institute, Pune, India
Editor's Note: The September issue of WWI will follow up on the Washington D. C. lead contamination problem.
