Water Contamination

Sources of Water Contamination

Water Contamination – A series of activities and condition may hinder the drinking water quality source. These consist of geological product; depth of ground water or position intake of a surface water; how the surroundings source land are put to used, either for agriculture, industry, or developmental use where harmful chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides; and the presence of hazardous material on sites, leakages in the underground storage tanks, and landfills (DEP, 2013).

The lakes and reservoirs effect of contamination agent are more serious and common than the rivers and streams because there is no flow of natural flushing process as in the case of rivers and stream. Contamination may be present more in surface water due to efficient of biological degradation. Most contaminant bacteria actively sustain more on the groundwater supplies above the soil.

In particular to surface water there is less contaminant of groundwater, first enteric of impurity travel down in the soil vertically with gravity to the groundwater.

At particular point in time it will start primarily to flow in a lateral movement. The impurity will then travel in three-dimensionally resembling chimney smoke and is revere to a plume. Groundwater is not in turbulent form of flows as in the case of surface water.

The flow is distinct by pressure, friction and gravity. Surface water exhibit less constant than ground water. The most essential way of removing drinking water contaminant is to monitor it at the point of collection (Pedersen, 1997).

The following are the difference sources of water contamination

1. Microbial Contaminant

Microbial contaminant is in connection through enteric of contaminated water by human or animal by-product. The source of diseases causing protozoa, helminthes, bacteria and viruses can be from faeces. Pathogens derived from faecal product are the most important factors in setting guideline for health-based for microbial safety.

Bacteriological water quality recurrently differs rapidly over a wide range. Periodic increase in disease risks may due to rise in pathogen concentration which may considerably trigger waterborne outbreaks disease.

The failure to exercise portable water quality may lead the communal to infectious diseases and other risk of intestinal diseases outbreaks. Portable water-borne diseases are essentially to be curtailing because of their high capability to cause simultaneous outbreak of great infection of a large number of potentially infection within the community.

Many helminthes infective stages, like parasitical flatworms and roundworms, can be contacted by humans through intake water. Even as its fertilized egg and single mature larva can leads to illness, should therefore be eliminated from intake water. Likewise, the water traces is partially unessential for helminthes illness, but only exception in the guinea worm cases. Legionella bacteria can multiply at higher temperature and organism present almost everywhere in the environment. Drinking-water can be exposing to Legionella through gulp of air and can be reduce by implementing the management measures of basic quality of water in the household and through the disinfectant of contaminant by maintaining the distribution pipe system (WHO, 2008).

a. Turbidity
Turbidity is form cloudiness in water. It may not cause health adverse effects, while can provide platform for microbial growth and open a medium for infection. Turbidity sometime indicates the existence of bacterial causing diseases and might comprises of virus, parasite, and bacteria that can cause an infection like cramps, diarrhea, associated headaches, and nausea (EPA, 2013).

b. Feacal Pollution
“Contamination of drinking water by pathogens; diarrhoeal disease causing organism is the most essential aspect of drinking water quality. The problem emanate from consequence of contamination of water by faecal matter, likewise human faecal matter, containing pathogenic organisms. One of the great scourges of cities in Europe and North America in the 19th century was outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera. In many parts of the developing world it remains a major cause of disease.

It is therefore essential to destroy the faecal–oral cycle by preventing faecal product from entering water sources and/or by treating drinking water to kill the pathogens. However, these approaches need to operate alongside hygiene practices such as hand washing, which reduce the level of person-to-person infection. Enumeration and presence of pathogens in water are not appropriate under most circumstances in view of the difficulties and resources required; Escherichia coli and faecal streptococci are used as indicators of faecal contamination. The assumption is that if the indicators are detected, pathogens, including viruses, could also be present and therefore an instance action is required” (John et al., 2013).

c. Fecal Coliform and Escherichia Coli (E. coli)
“Fecal coliform and E. coli are bacteria whose presence shows the water is contaminated; either by human or animal product. Microbes in these wastes can cause periodic effects, such as diarrhea, nausea, cramps, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for young children, infants, and people with severely compromised immune systems” (EPA, 2013).

d. Fecal Indicators (Enterococci or Coliphage)
“Fecal indicators are organism whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal product. E. coli. Enterococci bacterium infected by Coliphage virus is bacterial indicators of fecal contamination. Microbes in these wastes can cause periodic health effects, such as cramps, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for young children, some of the elderly, infants, and people with severely compromised immune systems” (EPA, 2013).

e. Total Coliforms
“Coliforms are bacteria that are present; naturally in the environment and used as an indicator that other bacteria may be present; which are potentially harmful, Coliforms captured in more samples than allowed is a warning of potential problems” (EPA, 2013).

2.  Pathogen

Micro-organism causing deceases are pathogenic. Pathogens essentially concern include bacteria, protozoa and viruses. Several discharged of pathogens can be through intake water and also discharge through others way, which including physical transmission with the sick people, polluted food, transmitted through animals, and swimming in polluted, pools. Pathogenic organism can be found in runoff water in large quantity volume of water, either through excretion in by-product or naturally transpire in the atmosphere. The relatively range in size of a bacteria is between 2 and 0.5µm. Bacteria that cause diseases that can be contacted through water comprises of Salmonella sp, Campylobacter sp, Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Shigella sp (HSC Biology, 2013).

a. Cryptosporidium
“Cryptosporidium is a single-celled protozoan parasite mostly found in lakes and rivers, usually when the water is contaminated with sewage and animal waste. Gastrointestinal illness can be cause by Cryptosporidium e.g., diarrhea, vomiting, cramps” (EPA, 2013).

b. Giardia Lamblia
“Giardia lamblia is a single-celled protozoan parasite that can be found in intestine of infected humans or animals. It is present on surfaces or in soil, water, or food that has been contaminated with the feces from infected animals or humans. Giardia lamblia can cause symptoms such as cramps, nausea, associated headaches and diarrhea” (EPA, 2013).

c. Legionella
“Legionella were formerly regarded as a hazard only when inhaled in aerosolized water, but there is considerable new evidence that aspiration from drinking water leads to many cases of Legionnaires’ disease” (Gene, 2001).

d. Viruses
“Enteroviruses are relatively small viruses that survive in the intestines of infected animals or humans. This group includes the coxsackieviruses, polioviruses, echoviruses, and other enteroviruses. In addition to the three different polioviruses, there are 62 non-polio enteroviruses that can cause disease in humans: 6 Coxsackie B viruses, 23 Coxsackie A viruses, 28 echoviruses, and 5 other enteroviruses. Illness from viruses ranges from gastroenteritis caused by viruses such as norovirus (Norwalk-like virus) and rotavirus to myocarditis caused by Coxsackie B to meningitis caused by echovirus” (EPA, 2013).