Causes of Bad Water Quality

Our earth is covered by around 70% of water, of that 70%, only about 1% that is drinkable.  Of all water being consumed by people about 95% ends up in our sewage system.  As consumers of water our water consumption is up 100% in the last 30 years.

In that time, we have increase our pollution by more than 350% per person, we have removed enormous areas of forests, we have increased our heavy industry by more than 2 fold, and quadrupled the number of motor vehicles as well as our population is growing at a rapid rate. 

Many recent surveys and reports have attributed liver damage, cancer, arthritis and many other diseases less than  effective water purification systems.

Latest US water supply reports have shown that approximately 65% of town water supplies has some form of unacceptable (EPA levels) levels of contamination. Most town water supplies have elaborate water purification and filtration systems to remove and destroy unwelcome contaminants.

There is a large number of bacteria, oocysts, cysts and virus that contaminate our water, many are caused by human invention.   This can be from sewage effluent to  industrial pollution to toxic rain

Some of the main culprits in todays water impurifications include; Giardia lamblia, Cryptosporidium, Leptospira (leptospirosis), Vibrio cholerae, salmonella, Clostridium botulinum (botulism), pathogenic viruses, the larvae of flukes.   Each can have devastating, if not fatal effects on humans if not effectively treated..

What about heavy metals is water?  Heavy metals in water can lead to some very serious side effects including brain damage, development of autoimmunity, rheumatoid arthritis, kidney and nervous system diseases. When we refer to heavy metals we normally refer to toxic metals.  These, in most, originate from industrial & urban runoff; that is from roads and house roofs; factory outputs; industrial wastes, garbage tips, coal burning,  waste incinerators, mining. 

Heavy metals in water can lead to some very serious side effects including brain damage, development of autoimmunity, rheumatoid arthritis, kidney and nervous system diseases. When we refer to heavy metals we normally refer to toxic metals.  These, in most, originate from industrial & urban runoff; that is from roads and house roofs; factory outputs; industrial wastes, garbage tips, coal burning,  waste incinerators, mining. 

There are over 50 plus heavy metals elements. Of that, there are 18 that are considered toxic.   Mercury, selenium lead, cadium, chromium, thallium and arsenic are the worst of the heavy toxic metals that should be avoided at all costs.  Other heavy metals that are required in very small dosages, 1 µg or less per day by the human body include zinc, copper and chromium, though in large dosages can be fatal.

These heavy toxic metals are considered dangerous as they bioaccumulate in the body. That is, they build up faster than they are removed through human excretion,  This build up that causes much of the  damage to humans. 

Even though toxic heavy metals are a lesser concern compared to bacteria followed by viruses, it should not be discounted as there has been some majors water disasters atributed to heavy metals.  Some more prevalent ones have been in  France (Sandoz), Spain (Coto de Donana) and Australia (Sydney).

Its not only the water you should be concerned about drinking, fruit, vegetable, grains, sea food and shell fish can also can contain toxic metals and bacteria as the water used to grow the plants or the seafood is contanimanated and polluted.

There are a large number of ways the contamination enters our water supplies, these include