Water filtration technologies and infrastructure have seen drastic improvements over the years. However, despite these improvements, there are still portions of the world left with seriously contaminated water. This water poses unique threats to individuals, many of which coming from some life-threatening bacteria and parasites. Despite best efforts, these contaminants are more than capable of finding their way into local water supplies and breeding. They’ll later go on to leak out into the water supplies of local families, causing an outbreak. This post will detail some of those contaminants and how they can impact your family.
While it’s important for families to have some form of treatment or water protection tools for the sources of water they bring into their home, it’s not always a guaranteed 100% filtration rate. Not to mention, every water-oriented aspect of the home can be impacted. This includes the water from the kitchen faucet, the water flowing through the plumbing in your home, the sprinkler system and everything else in between. Without the right treatment, the spreading of illnesses amongst families becomes much more common.
A real-life example could look something like this. A family living in a more rural environment, with surrounding areas being made up of farm fields that grow different crops and house different animals, experiences a rainy night. All of the rain causes the fecal remains of the farm fields finding their way into nearby rivers or streams. Which will lead to nearby families’ water supplies being infected with E. coli, a bacteria that has been known to cause symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea. Another, much less expected way for families to become infected, comes in the form of their air conditioning systems. When neglected, these systems can become breeding grounds for another water contaminant known as Legionella. When this bacteria gets to work, it enters the respiratory system and leads to Legionnaires disease. This disease typically leads to sometimes deadly respiratory problems in individuals who contract it. These are only a few of the contaminants families are at risk of contracting, though.
Pseudomonas: at worst a life-threatening pathogen, pseudomonas is a very common cause of documented infections in the United States each year. This bacteria can be found in living soil in addition to water sources. For most, symptoms of an infection from this bacteria include pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and sometimes even sepsis. For the safety of your family, regularly maintenance your plumbing systems as it is most commonly found within these systems in the home.
coli: this bacteria is often found in the digestive systems of living organisms and can seep into drinking water supplies. More often than not, insufficient treatment of wastewater around your area can cause this bacteria to find its way into the home. Drinking water contaminated with this bacteria will often cause some gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting and diarrhea. Avoid any drinking water if there’s any suspicion of a contamination in your area.
Giardia Lamblia: a lesser known parasite that has been known to infect those by drinking unclean water. Highly contagious, this parasite can spread without the carrier being entirely asymptomatic. Signs of infection usually include diarrhea, stomach cramps, and a fever.
As you can see, there are a number of pesky contaminants that can cause harm to your family if the proper safety measures are not taken. For more information on what safety measures you can take to maintain the safety of your family, be sure to take a moment to check out the infographic paired alongside this post.
Chris Ebener is a mechanical engineer for LiquiTech, with a proven track record of diagnosing and remediating public water system issues of various sizes and complexity. Ebener is an expert on the biochemical makeup of facility water systems, system architecture and various methodologies of public drinking water treatment.