SAFE DRINKING WATER

Safe Drinking Water

 Contents
• Introduction
• How Much Water DoYou Need
• What Contaminants are there in theWater
• Well Water
• Bottled Water
• Contaminants in the Pipes
• Health Effects of Drinking Contaminated Water
• Water Quality and Water Filters
• Sources of FreshWater
• Treatment of contaminated Water
• Distribution of Water
• Conclusion
• Glossary
 Introduction
Most of us don’t think about the water we drink. We turn
on a tap, fill a glass, and drink. But how much water do
you really need to drink every day? Is the water you're
drinking safe or would bottled water be safer? What
can you do if your tap water suddenly became
contaminated?
Clean drinking water is a basic human need.Unfortunately,
more one in six people still
lack reliable access to
this precious resource.
The problem is particularly
acute in the developing
world.
 How Much Water DoYou Need
• Your body weight is more than 50% water. Without water,
you couldn’t maintain a normal body temperature,
lubricate your joints, or get rid of waste through urination,
sweat, and bowel movements.
• Not getting enough water can lead to dehydration, which
can cause muscle weakness and cramping, a lack of
coordination, and an increased risk of heat exhaustion
and heat stroke. In fact, water is so important that a
person couldn’t last more than five days without it.
• You often hear that you need to drink eight 8-ounce
glasses of water each day. The Institute of Medicine's
Food and Nutrition Board recommended that women
actually need 91 ounces of water daily, and men need 125
ounces.
• So how much water do you need? Enough to replace what you
lose daily through urination, sweating, even exhaling. And
your need for waterincreases:
– In warm or hotweather
– With vigorous physical activity, such as exercise or working inthe
yard
– During bouts of illness, especially if you have a fever, are
vomiting, having diarrhea orcoughing
• It is a good idea to track how much water you drink for a few
days just to get a feel for the amount needed. You can get
enough water each day by drinking water and consuming
fluids like soup and drinks, along with lots of vegetables,
which contain water. Keep in mind that if you’re going to do
something strenuous, like playing sports or running, you'll
need extra water before, during, and after.
 What Contaminants are there in
the Water
• Water can be contaminated in severalways.
• It can contain microorganisms like bacteria and parasites that
get in the water from human or animal fecal matter.
• It can contain chemicals from industrial waste or from spraying
crops. Nitrates used in fertilizers can enter the water with runoff
from theland.
• Various minerals such as lead or mercury can enter the water
supply, sometimes from natural deposits underground, or more
often from improperdisposal.
• The EPA has set minimum testing schedules for specific
pollutants to make sure that levels remainsafe.
• Still, some people may be more vulnerable than others
to potential harm caused by water contaminants,
including:
– People undergoing chemotherapy
– People with HIV/AIDS
– Transplant patients
– Children and infants
– Pregnant women and theirfetuses
 Well Water
• For almost one out of every seven Americans, a private
well is the primary source of drinking water. Private
wells are not regulated by the EPA. Well water safety
can be affected by many factors,including:
– How the well was built
– Where it’s located
– How it’s maintained
– The quality of the aquifer supplying thewell
– Human activities in yourarea
• The EPA recommends that you talk with local experts,
have your well water tested regularly, and not let
problems go untended.
 Bottled Water
• According to the International Bottled Water Association,
Americans drank 9.1 billion gallons of bottled water in
2011, a 4.1% increase over the previousyear.
• One argument advanced for the use of bottled water is its
safety, yet there isn't the same guarantee of safety with
bottled water as there is for the water in your tap.
• The FDA oversees the standards that apply to bottled
water, but it doesn't have the ability to oversee a
mandatory testing program like the EPA does with public
water suppliers. So, although it can order a bottled water
recall once a problem has been found, there is no
guarantee that the bottle ofwater you bought is safe.
 Contaminants in thePipes
• Occasionally, your tap water can
become contaminated as a result of breaks in the water
line, although one of the biggest problems is lead
getting into the water from pipes. Even ''lead-free''
pipes can contain as much as 8%lead.
• The best way to avoid consuminglead
from tap water is to only use water
from the cold tap for drinking,
cooking, and making baby formula
and to let the water run for a minute
before using it.
 Health Effects of Drinking
Contaminated Water
• How contaminated water effectsyour
health depends on the type of
contaminants.
• Does boiling contaminated water make it safe to drink?
It depends on the contaminant. Boiling water can kill
germs, but things like lead, nitrates, and pesticides
aren't affected. And since boiling reduces the volume of
water, it increases the concentration of those
contaminants.
• Cryptosporidium is a pathogen that sometimes gets
into water supplies. It can cause a gastrointestinal
disease that could be fatal.
• Nitrates can contaminate water and pose an immediate
threat to infants. In the intestines, nitrates are
converted to nitrites, which prevent blood from
transporting oxygen. An enzyme present in the system
of older children restores the blood's ability to carry
oxygen.
• Lead can
cause both
physical and
mental
developmental
problems in infants and children. Adults who have been
drinking lead-tainted water for a number of years can
experience kidney problems and high blood pressure.
 Water Quality And WaterFilters
• In an effort to make their drinking water safer, some
people use water filters at home. There are four main
kinds:
• Activated carbon filters can remove certain organic
contaminants that affect taste and odor. Some systems
are also designed to remove chlorination byproducts,
solvents, and pesticides, or certain metals such as
copper or lead.
• Ion exchange units with activated alumina can remove
minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which make
water hard.
• Reverse osmosis units with carbon can remove nitrates
and sodium as well as pesticides and petrochemicals.
• Distillation units boil water and condense the steam, creating
distilled water.
• No one system will remove all water contaminants. If you do
decide you want to install a system, you should have your
water tested by a certified laboratory first to find out what's in
your water.
• No matter which water filtering system you choose, you need
to maintain it ; otherwise, contaminants build up in the filter
and make the water quality worse than it would be without
the filter.
• It's important to know that a home water filter won’t protect
you from water that has been declared unsafe. If that happens
in your area, follow the advice of your local water authorities
until the water is declared safe to drink oncemore.
 Sources of FreshWater
• Drinkable water is a preciouscommodity.
• Mostof the Earth’s water is sea water.
• About 2.5% is freshwater – and two-thirds of that is
frozen in ice caps and glaciers.
• Underground reservoirs are an important source of
water supply for many people. Humans use wells to tap
renewable and non-renewable aquifers which quench
their thirsts and watercrops.
• Rivers and lakes contain only a small amount of Earth’s
water – but these surface waters are crucial. Like some
aquifers, they are constantly replenished when water
moves from the atmosphere to Earth and again through
the water cycle.
• But surface water sources are subject to variable
precipitation patterns that make them notoriously
unreliable.
• Protecting and managing the freshwater
sources, above and below ground are essentialtasks.
Treatment of ContaminatedWater
• Contaminants are substances that make water unfit for
use. Some contaminants can be easily identified by
assessing the taste, odor, and the turbidity ofwater.
• Most, however, cannot be easily detected and require
testing to reveal whether or not water is contaminated.
• If left unchecked, contaminants can cause a whole host
of water-related diseases which exact a terrible toll on
human health.
• Contaminants are either man-made or naturally
occurring. Some contaminants are organisms that are
pathogens like viruses, bacteria, and parasites such as
microscopic protozoa and worms. These living
organisms can be spread by human and animalwaste.
• Good sanitation and hygiene can help to stop the
spread of these organisms.
• The other contaminants are the man-made byproducts
of industry and agriculture including heavy metals like
lead and mercury, and hazardous chemicals and
compounds like insecticides and fertilizers.
• Naturally occurring contaminants can contaminate
water as well. Toxins such as highly poisonous metal
arsenic may be naturally present at unacceptablelevels.
• Contaminated water must be treated before it can be
used for human consumption.
• Water treatment can occur at two distinctplaces:
– At a centralized water treatmentfacility
– At the point of use
• Where ever treatment takes place, a diverse range of
technologies is used to purify drinkingwater.
• Treatment technologies are selected and applied using
several determining factors including water source, type
of contaminant and thecost.
• For the most effective treatment, a combination of
technologies is used to ensure that the water if fully
decontaminated.
 Distribution of Water
• Distribution systems move water from a source or a water
treatment plant to the people who consumeit.
• Water distribution requires infrastructure.

infrastructure could range from complex pipe systems to the simplest of water containers. All
the infrastructures from the simplest to the most complex, have associated costs. Moreover,
water in any distribution system may

became contaminated if sources are not properly

protected and monitored, treatment plants are not
properly operated, or infrastructure is not maintained.
• Although they share the same basic function, distribution
system vary greatly from culture to culture, from one
economic stratum to the next, and from great cities to
humble villages.
 Conclusion
• People cannot createwater.
• But, by managing sources and distribution
systems, they can maximize the amount of
available of water and make the most out of
every drop.

SAVE WATER !!!!!!

SAVE LIFE !!!!!
 Glossary
FRESHWATERS
Water that does not contain significant levels of dissolved
minerals and salts.
RESERVOIRS
A large body of water used to store supplies for human use.
AQUIFERS
A geological layer or “formation”, typically sand, gravel, or
limestone that can store and transmit ground water and
allow it to be pumped in “useful” quantities.
SURFACE WATER
All water, fresh and salt, that is direct contact with the
atmosphere. Oceans, rivers, lakes are all sources of
surface water.
WATER CYCLE
The Sun – driven process of evaporation, condensation, and
precipitation that moves the water from the oceans and Earth
to the atmosphere and back again. Also called the Hydrological-
Cycle.
PRECIPITATION
The process by which the atmospheric water vapour falls to earth
including rain, snow, hail, sleet, dew, andfrost.
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Any system by which the water is moved from the source to its
consumers.
CONTAMINANTS
Any harmful or undesirable substance found in the water.
Contaminants include microorganisms, dissolved naturally
occurring minerals, human generated chemicals, and
TURBIDITY
The visual appearance of cloudy water filled with
suspended particles. Turbidity, as an optical property,
may be measured and used to rate water quality and
clarity.
PATHOGENS
An organism that triggers acute or chronic disease. Bacteria,
Viruses, Parasites are somecommon pathogens.
BACTERIA
Single-celled organisms that lack a nucleus. They are found
in all living things and all types of environments. Some
bacteria can cause diseases.
VIRUSES
Extremely tiny microorganisms, often pathogenic, that
reproduce in the cells of a host organism. Viruses may be
present in human and animal waste and spread through
contaminated water.
PARASITES
An organism that lives on or inside or another “host”
organism. [parasites do not benefit their hosts, but
instead feed at theirexpense.
PROTOZOA
Single-celled eukaryotic organisms often present in water.
Protozoa may be parasitic and some, like Giardia and
Cryptosporidium are pathogenic.
ARSENIC
A poisonous element that commonly occurs in the natural
environment and can contaminate ground water.
Drinking arsenic-rich water over months and years causes
arsenic to accumulate in the body. This can lead to
arsenicosis.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The facilities, equipments, and materials necessary for the
operation of a water supply or sanitation system.
Infrastructure includes storage systems such as dams and
reservoirs as well as distribution and treatment system.