Drinking Water
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Staying Alive
Re: Drinking Water
Water treatment
Most water requires some type of treatment before use, even water from deep wells or springs. The extent of treatment depends on the source of the water. Appropriate technology options in water treatment include both community-scale and household-scale point-of-use (POU) designs.[38] A few large urban areas such as Christchurch, New Zealand have access to sufficiently pure water of sufficient volume that no treatment of the raw water is required.[39]
Over the past decade, an increasing number of field-based studies have been undertaken to determine the success of POU measures in reducing waterborne disease. The ability of POU options to reduce disease is a function of both their ability to remove microbial pathogens if properly applied and such social factors as ease of use and cultural appropriateness. Technologies may generate more (or less) health benefit than their lab-based microbial removal performance would suggest.
The current priority of the proponents of POU treatment is to reach large numbers of low-income households on a sustainable basis. Few POU measures have reached significant scale thus far, but efforts to promote and commercially distribute these products to the world's poor have only been under way for a few years.
In emergency situations when conventional treatment systems have been compromised, water borne pathogens may be killed or inactivated by boiling[40] but this requires abundant sources of fuel, and can be very onerous on consumers, especially where it is difficult to store boiled water in sterile conditions and is not a reliable way to kill some encysted parasites such as Cryptosporidium or the bacterium Clostridium. Other techniques, such as filtration, chemical disinfection, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation (including solar UV) have been demonstrated in an array of randomized control trials to significantly reduce levels of water-borne disease among users in low-income countries,[41] but these suffer from the same problems as boiling methods.
Most water requires some type of treatment before use, even water from deep wells or springs. The extent of treatment depends on the source of the water. Appropriate technology options in water treatment include both community-scale and household-scale point-of-use (POU) designs.[38] A few large urban areas such as Christchurch, New Zealand have access to sufficiently pure water of sufficient volume that no treatment of the raw water is required.[39]
Over the past decade, an increasing number of field-based studies have been undertaken to determine the success of POU measures in reducing waterborne disease. The ability of POU options to reduce disease is a function of both their ability to remove microbial pathogens if properly applied and such social factors as ease of use and cultural appropriateness. Technologies may generate more (or less) health benefit than their lab-based microbial removal performance would suggest.
The current priority of the proponents of POU treatment is to reach large numbers of low-income households on a sustainable basis. Few POU measures have reached significant scale thus far, but efforts to promote and commercially distribute these products to the world's poor have only been under way for a few years.
In emergency situations when conventional treatment systems have been compromised, water borne pathogens may be killed or inactivated by boiling[40] but this requires abundant sources of fuel, and can be very onerous on consumers, especially where it is difficult to store boiled water in sterile conditions and is not a reliable way to kill some encysted parasites such as Cryptosporidium or the bacterium Clostridium. Other techniques, such as filtration, chemical disinfection, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation (including solar UV) have been demonstrated in an array of randomized control trials to significantly reduce levels of water-borne disease among users in low-income countries,[41] but these suffer from the same problems as boiling methods.
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Badri
- Posts: 707
- Joined: 26 Feb 2013 09:59
- Full Name: Kannivelu Badrinath
- Name of Your College/Medical School: Madras Medical College, Madras, India
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Re: Drinking Water
Making Water Safe to Drink
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, said that if you're not sure if tap water is safe to drink or bathe in, it's important to either use bottled water, boil the water or disinfect it first before using it.
Adding just a little bit of bleach to water can help to make it safe, if the water comes out of the tap clear already, the CDC noted. To use this method, add about eight drops (one-eighth of a teaspoon) of unscented bleach to one gallon of water, mix, and then wait for half-hour. After this, it should be safe to drink.
The CDC notes that if the water comes out of the tap cloudy, then you should add 16 drops (or one-quarter of a teaspoon) of unscented bleach to the water, instead of eight drops.
The CDC also reported that infants should not be fed powdered formula prepared with this bleached water -- you should only use canned formula.
If you are boiling the water to kill the bacteria, make sure you let the water boil vigorously for at least one minute, according to the CDC.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, said that if you're not sure if tap water is safe to drink or bathe in, it's important to either use bottled water, boil the water or disinfect it first before using it.
Adding just a little bit of bleach to water can help to make it safe, if the water comes out of the tap clear already, the CDC noted. To use this method, add about eight drops (one-eighth of a teaspoon) of unscented bleach to one gallon of water, mix, and then wait for half-hour. After this, it should be safe to drink.
The CDC notes that if the water comes out of the tap cloudy, then you should add 16 drops (or one-quarter of a teaspoon) of unscented bleach to the water, instead of eight drops.
The CDC also reported that infants should not be fed powdered formula prepared with this bleached water -- you should only use canned formula.
If you are boiling the water to kill the bacteria, make sure you let the water boil vigorously for at least one minute, according to the CDC.