Water...the Facts of Life
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Fact: According to the World Health
Organization, contaminated water is the largest health problem
in the world - 50,000 people die each day worldwide due to waterborne disease.
Fact: The CDC estimates that 1,000,000 people in
the US get sick from microbiologically contaminated water each year and 1,000
die as a result.
Fact: Waterborne gastrointestinal infections account
for 80% of all diseases in the world.
Fact: 25% of all hospital beds worldwide are
occupied by people who have become ill due to waterborne disease.
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Bacteria
Bacteria are one-celled organisms, that exist in different forms and
variations in the earth, in the water and in the air. Their average size
varies from 0.2 and 1.5 microns - maximum 10 microns, and can not
be distinguished by the human eye. Therefore one cubic centimeter
of contaminated water can contain millions of micro-organisms. Not every bacteria
is an agent of disease. The most common waterborne bacteria which cause infections
include: typhoid, paratyphoid, dysentery, colibacillosis and cholera.
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Viruses
Viruses are the smallest agents of disease. Their size vary from 0.1 to 0.004
microns. Except for the large pocketvirus, these micro-organisms can pass through
the smallest filter, which can retain bacteria and protozoa. The most common virus
are hepatitis, yellow fever, and poliomyelitis. Virus tend to adhere to particles
in the water which can be filtered out.
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Protozoa
Protozoa, larger than bacteria, are one-celled animals varying in size from 10
to 100 microns. They can survive in insects or in the form of cysts when outside of
the human or animal organism. Some protozoa such as amoeba, giardia and cryptosporidium are
present everywhere. Others, such as malaria or of the sleeping sickness disease can
only be found in the tropics and subtropics.
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Only 0.8% of the earth's water can be used for drinking water. The remainder
is held as ice, or salt water and therefore not drinkable. This limited quantity of
fresh water is becoming ever more polluted due to the growth in the
world's population and increasing environmental pollution. An improvement in
the way we treat that rare commodity, water, is unforeseeable.
The more that water is used and polluted, the higher its
degree of bacterial contamination and the higher the amount chlorine needed for its
disinfection. This all leads to increased chemical contamination as well as an increased
health risk.
Furthermore, chlorine is no longer effective against
all the microorganisms which are found in drinking water.
Ultimately, it is these situations which fully highlight
the major benefit of water treatment and/or filtration.
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