Treating wastewater that comes from all facilities is important, but treating a community’s drinking water reserve comes with extra responsibility. The primary purpose of wastewater equipment in a treatment system for public drinking water is to rid it of contaminants and disease-carrying pathogens. In a typical system, the primary and secondary waste treatments remove approximately 85% to 95% of pollutants from the wastewater before the system uses chemical dosing to disinfect it and discharges it into local waterways. To keep the public safe, water treatment systems work to rid water of these dangerous contaminants.
- Hepatitis A: This preventable disease is caused by the Hepatitis A virus. As microscopic parasitic organisms, viruses are smaller than bacteria and pose many threats to humans when they’re present in drinking water. While hepatitis A does not lead to a chronic infection, it does induce symptoms that include stomach pain, nausea, fatigue, and jaundice. These symptoms will typically go away within two months of infection.
- Giardia: Giardia is a microscopic parasite that causes the illness known as giardiasis. The parasite has an outer shell that protects it and allows it to survive outside of a host body for a long period of time. This shell can also make it tolerant to chlorine disinfection, making water the most common method of transportation for the parasite.
- Salmonella: Best known for contaminating food, salmonella can also be present in untreated drinking water. This bacteria causes about 1.2 million illnesses in the U.S. every year and causes fever, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. While most people recover from the symptoms on their own within four to seven days, others need to be hospitalized before the infection spreads to their bloodstream.
- Shigella: This group of bacteria causes the infectious disease known as shigellosis. The infection causes many of the same symptoms as salmonella, including fever, diarrhea, and stomach cramps. People can still get infected with the disease and not show symptoms, making it easy to pass to others.
- Legionella: Legionella is a bacteria that can cause both Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever. While Legionnaires’ disease is a serious type of pneumonia, Pontiac fever is a milder illness. People can fall ill with either one when they accidentally swallow water containing Legionella into their lungs.
By using the proper process engineered water equipment and water treatment products, these contaminants can be removed from the water supply. When the water supply is safe, the entire community that drinks from the water is as well.