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Water safety

Did you think your drinking water was sterile? it isn't, but that is no reason to worry. More importantly, your water must be free of bacteria that make us ill. A good indication of the safety of drinking water is the number of coliform bacteria present. These are harmless but their presence indicates a fecal contamination. More on what coliform bacteria are and what their numbers tell us (Source: Commonwealth of Kentucky).

Q and A on bacteria in drinking water (This site also gives detailed information on ways of desinfecting drinking water (source: Uni Missouri).
Bottled water versus tap water (Source: . Bailey)
Frequently Asked Questions about water quality (Source: US Geological Survey)
Bacterial safety of well water (Source: Minnesota Dept. of Health)
Iron and Sulfur bacteria in your water (Source: Nebraska Health & Human Services System)
Water quality monitoring of recreational waters (Source: WHO)
Drinking water inspectorate in the UK (Source: DWI)
Health concerns about Nitrate in drinking water (Source: Cornell University)

There are quite a lot of infectious diseases that can be acquired from contaminated drinking water. If you are not sure of the quality of the water you want to drink, desinfect it properly by boiling for at least 10 min. Special care should be taken in tropical areas. Have a look at these food and water safety recommendations for travellers (includes a link for treatment of water during travels) (Source: CDC). Did you know that Sunlight can desinfect water (Source: Uni Beirut). Not all diseases carried in water stem from bacteria. Viruses and amoeba can also cause tommy trouble or worse. What is the difference between bacteria and viruses? (Source: Microbes by ASM) Take extra care when amoeba could be present in your drinking water, since these are not always distroyed when using desinfecting tablets.Amoeba are not included in our displays, check which organisms are not described in our museum. Bottled water has a reputation of being safe and pure, but that can be disputed: Bottled water, pure drink or pure hype? (Source: Nat. Resources Defense Council).

Watersport and swimming can be fun, but you don't want to regret your recreation in a sick bed. Extra care should be taken in the hot season and in tropical areas, and not only because of crocodiles! Check out these links for watersporters (Source: A. del Rosario).

Legionnaires' Disease can be transmitted through water. See this fact sheet (Source: Gray Environmental.com) or go to the species file on Legionella.

The content of this page is copyright of the Virtual Museum of Bacteria and was written by Dr. T. M. Wassenaar (curator), with support of the Foundation for Bacteriology.

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Page last modified: 09 Mar 2007

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