Water is essential for
basic survival as it constitutes up to 60% of the human adult body. However,
contaminated water can spread disease and cause poisoning. Pathogens such asbacteria, viruses, and parasites can spread by water and cause communicablediseases. Most of these are considered communicable because they can spread
from one person to another via contaminated water or other vectors. So water is
a vehicle for spread of the pathogens and other environmental health hazards.
The most common diseases are diarrheal diseases, such as cholera, typhoid,
paratyphoid, salmonella, giardiasis, and cryptosporidiosis.
Other environmental
health hazards may be chemical and radioactive constituents of water. This is why the quality of the drinking water is a universal health concern,
more somore so in developing
nations.
Infectious diseases
caused by pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites are the most common and
widespread health risk associated with drinking water. The elimination of all
these agents from drinking water has to be a high priority. The provision of a
safe supply of drinking water depends upon use of either a protected
high-quality ground water, surface water, or a properly selected and operated
series of treatments capable to reduce pathogens and other contaminants to the
negligible health risk. These diseases are usually classified according to
the nature of the pathogen.
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