Clean drinking water is something that is important for every single home, yet millions of homes around the world still face a daily challenge. When water becomes polluted by bacteria, viruses, chemicals, or waste, it turns into a serious health risk rather than a basic necessity.
Drinking contaminated water can silently expose the body to harmful microorganisms that cause illness, long-term health problems, and even life-threatening conditions. These risks are not limited to remote places; they can affect households, communities, and travelers anywhere.
That is why knowing how contaminated water impacts health is a pivotal step toward prevention. In this Frizzlife blog post, we will cover what contaminated water is, common diseases caused by such water, and best practices to avoid this water.
Also, read our blog post about What is Hardness is Water & How to Measur it?
What is Contaminated Water?
Contaminated water is a water that carries harmful substances, making it unsafe for drinking or regular use. These substances include bacteria, viruses, parasites, chemicals, or waste materials that enter water sources through pollution, old or poor sanitation, or natural disasters.
Consuming this type of water can negatively affect your health and increase the chances of illness.
5 Common Diseases Caused by Drinking Contaminated Water
Drinking contaminated water can expose the body to a wide range of harmful microorganisms that lead to serious illness, limited access to clean water, or during floods and natural disasters. Here are five common diseases that are linked to drinking contaminated water.
1. Cholera
Cholera is a severe bacterial infection that is usually caused by drinking contaminated water with Vibrio cholerae. It mainly affects the intestines and leads to instant, profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and rapid dehydration.
If this problem is not treated promptly, then cholera can become life-threatening within a few hours. In addition, this disease quickly spreads in those areas in the world that have a lack of water treatment and sanitation facilities.
2. Typhoid Fever
In general, typhoid fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, which enters the body when you drink contaminated water or food. Its symptoms usually develop slowly and include high fever, weakness, stomach pain, headache, and loss of appetite.
In some situations, individuals may experience intestinal complications. If not treated well with proper medical care, typhoid can last for weeks and cause serious health problems.
3. Dysentery
Dysentery is a gastrointestinal infection that may result from consuming contaminated drinking water and either a parasite or bacteria. The symptoms include diarrhea with blood or mucus, abdominal cramps, fever, and nausea.
Dysentery poses a significant risk to young children because the disease can cause extreme dehydration and loss of food during a rapid onset. Poor sanitation and contaminated water greatly increase the chances of an outbreak of dysentery.
4. Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a known infection that harms the liver. It generally spreads when someone drinks water that is contaminated with human waste. Its symptoms may include fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, and yellowing of the skin and eyes.
Although plenty of people recover fully, the illness can be severe and prolonged. Access to safe and filtered water, as well as good sanitation, plays a key role in preventing this disease.
5. Giardiasis
Giardiasis is normally caused by a microscopic parasite called Giardia lamblia. This is commonly present in untreated water from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, or wells. The infections lead to diarrhea, bloating, stomach cramps, and weight loss.
Research claims that its symptoms can last for weeks if not treated well, which makes daily activities difficult. Travelers and hikers who drink untreated water are at a higher risk of contracting giardiasis.
Best Practices to Avoid Drinking Contaminated Water
Here are some of the best practices that you should follow to avoid drinking polluted water.
● Use Safe and Treated Water Sources
To prevent yourself from any type of danger, always drink water from a reliable and treated source. Municipal water supply systems that have been properly filtered, disinfected, treated, and certified as sanitary will usually have a lower level of contaminants than untreated sources(such as an open well, river, or lake).
If you do not know how the water has been treated, then it is usually advisable to treat it yourself before using it for drinking purposes.
● Boil Water
Boiling water for at least one to two minutes kills most harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites. This simple way is useful during emergency situations, when you are traveling from one place to another, or living in an area where water quality is a major concern.
● Use Ways to Clean Water
If used right, methods of purifying water, such as using water filters, water purification tablets, and UV treatments, can significantly reduce the amount of contamination in water. You should choose a method that will work for where you live and ensure that you are using it correctly to have positive results.
● Store Drinking Water Generally
To prevent the contamination of drinking water, you should keep it in clean, covered containers. When storing the containers of drinking water, you should try to avoid putting unclean hands on the inside of the containers, and sterilizing storage containers frequently will help prevent harmful microorganisms from growing.
● Avoid Drinking Untreated Surface Water
Water from rivers, lakes, and streams may look clear at first glance, but can contain unseen germs. Always treat such water before drinking, cooking, or brushing your teeth.
● Maintain Good Personal Hygiene
Washing your hands with clean water and soap before eating or handling drinking water helps reduce the spread of germs that can pollute water supplies.
Conclusion:
Clean water plays a quiet but powerful role in everyday health. When drinking water becomes polluted, it can change routine activities into serious health risks. Understanding how contaminated water affects the body, recognizing the main waterborne diseases, and practicing simple safety measures can significantly reduce these dangers.
We can easily protect our families and communities by taking minor steps, which are proper treatment, safe storage, and good hygiene. When clean water becomes a priority, then prolonged health issues will no longer exist in the environment.