The human body consists of about sixty percent water. This means that a healthy person needs to stay constantly hydrated. People consume litres upon litres of water every day without making sure what they’re drinking is even clean.
You can catch all sorts of illnesses just by coming into contact with dirty water. The danger is magnified a hundred-fold when you accidentally drink liquids that haven’t gone through proper water filter systems. Here are only some of the terrifying diseases you can catch if you drink dirty water:
This is caused by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the faecal matter of someone who is infected with this disease. First, you will experience severe diarrheal and vomiting. This will cause your electrolytes to deplete and eventually cause dehydration that can lead to death.
This can be caused by any kind of infection but more often than not, it is waterborne. Someone with dysentery can experience mild stomach pains, diarrheal and infrequent bowel movements with blood in the stool, and possible lactose intolerance. If bacteria reach the blood stream, it can spread to other internal organs like the lungs, liver, or even the brain. Fortunately for most people, dysentery is not as serious in the city as it is in rural areas and underdeveloped countries.
How do you make sure your drinking water is clean?
Installing a water filter in your home can give you another line of defence, but there are other ways to be sure. You can test your drinking water by purchasing test kits that look for specific contaminants. Usually, water may contain E coli and coliform found in animal faecal matter. Other than bacteria, other contaminants may include iron, manganese, lead, sulphur, and many others—all of which are very dangerous to the human body if ingested.
Check your home’s plumbing system. Make sure you change pipes that are showing signs of rust as soon as possible. Testing your water should be something you do at least once a year, more frequently if you have little children drinking this water. While this measure and other methods may seem troublesome, it’s a small price to pay to ensure the cleanliness of your family’s drinking water.