Common questions about water treatment in the UK |
? How is our drinking water treated?
? What are the pathogenic organisms in our water and will they make me sick?
? Where do pathogenic organisms come from & how do they get into our water?
? Are pathogenic organisms always removed by our treatment plants?
? What else can be done to protect our water? |
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| How is our drinking water treated? |
Our two main defences against the dangerous pathogenic organisms in our drinking water supply are Chlorine and Filtration. Chlorine is a Pesticide and is added to our drinking water to kill living organisms.
Most of the time, Chlorine water treatment does a reasonably good job of controlling these organisms however Chlorinated water brings serious medical problems of it's own making and it should be removed before drinking.
Read about the danger of Chlorine in your drinking water...
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Unfortunately there are times when our drinking water does get infected with pathogenic organisms that can cause severe stomach upsets (diarrhoea and sickness) and occasionally, more severe medical complications. |
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| What are the pathogenic organisms in our water and will they make me sick? |
The pathogenic organisms found in our drinking water can be broken down into two types: |
Bacteria -
Protozoan Cysts - |
Bacteria are single-celled or non cellular organisms that reproduce by fission.
Protozoan Cysts are egg-like single-celled parasites in their dormant or larval stage. |
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The most common illness caused by waterborne bacteria and cysts is gastrointestinal illness. This is where bacteria or cysts infect the intestine / bowel and cause severe diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and stomach cramps etc. There are other forms of bacterial infection possible such as Streptococcus which infects the throat.
See common infections, symptoms and recovery times |
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| Where do pathogenic organisms come from & how do they get into our water? |
Both Bacteria and Protozoan Cysts can be found in the faeces of infected animals and are found in cattle and pig slurry. Runoffs from farmyard feedlots during heavy rain can carry these organisms into our streams, lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Spreading slurry on farmlands as fertilizer can also cause similar problems, as rainfall can carry these organisms into our watercourses. Bacteria and Protozoan Cysts can also be found in the faeces of infected humans. High rainfall can cause sewage overflow which can again, contaminate our watercourses. |
There is evidence that sewage effluents are sometimes deliberately discharged into our rivers used for drinking water and there have been a number of drinking water-related outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis, some of which have attracted considerable media attention. These outbreaks have involved thousands of cases of upset stomach with severe diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. |
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| Are pathogenic organisms always removed by our treatment plants? |
Protozoan Cysts such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia Lamblia are very resilient to Chlorine treatment. Some forms of E.Coli and Faecal Coliform Bacteria have also started to develop a tolerance, and are becoming increasingly resilient to the Chlorine in our treatment plants. |
It has been reported that most waterborne outbreaks occur after heavy rainfall when it is difficult for our treatment plants to cope. The UK Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has reported that their "investigations of outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis have shown that they are invariably related to inadequate provision or poor operation of water treatment."
The link to this quotation is still shown here but it no longer works: http://www.dwi.gov.uk/consumer/consumer/crypto.htm
In 2010 the DWI site was "redeveloped" and the following amended texts have been taken from the redeveloped site:
"There have been a number of drinking water related outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis, some of which have attracted considerable media attention. These outbreaks have involved between a few dozen to thousands of cases."
"...most investigations of outbreaks have shown that they happen only when some aspect of water treatment is inadequate."
The following link leads to the new redeveloped DWI page that these quotations were taken from:
http://www.dwi.gov.uk/consumers/advice-leaflets/crypto.pdf |
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| What else can be done to protect our water? |
It is clear that although our water supply is generally very good, there are times when we cannot guarantee that our families will be safe from the upset stomachs (diarrhoea, nausea & vomiting) and other serious complications that these organisms can cause.
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| Installing a point-of-use filtration system, can remove the harmful chemicals and pathogenic organisms that are sometimes present in our drinking water supplies. |
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Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this problem. You can protect your family from the pathogenic
organisms in our drinking water by installing a Ceramic Water Filter System to remove Bacteria & Cysts
at the point of use - in your kitchen. The System 2 fits neatly under sink and protects you all year round.
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- Our Ceramic Filters remove over 99.99% of Bacteria & Cysts from your water -
- The cost of protecting your family with a Carbon+Ceramic Filter System is less than 1p per Litre! -
- Our Systems can easily be installed in less than 45 minutes -
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We accept most major credit and debit cards via the easy-to-use PayPal card clearing system.
You can pay for your shopping securely through PayPal - and you don't have to join up.
PayPal is quick and easy to use and there are no charges for using the system.
For questions regarding products or postage, please email our Helpdesk.
Our Water Filter Systems have a 1 year guarantee on all parts excluding filters.
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