The Need For Water Purification Techniques

The Need For Water Purification Techniques

Water purification is very important prior to consumption whether it is for drinking or industry. The bulk of treatments are for drinking but many more are used in pharmaceutical labs and must be tested for contamination beyond the level of drink-ability. Most treatments are used in concert with others to assure purity. The treatments are determined by what they need it for.

The methods that are used include processes like filtration to remove large pieces of flotsam such as sticks or debris. These smaller particles settle to the bottom of the container while sitting idle waiting to be moved. This dropping of small particulates is helpful and can occur in only a few hours of inactivity.

Other methods include processes such as filters made from activated carbon. Chemical processes such as chlorination and the use of electromagnetic processes or ultraviolet rays are also available. All of these processes are designed to reduce the amount of particulates such as parasites, algae, viruses and fungi. They also remove any particles that may accumulate from the soil after it rains.

Scientists and politicians set the standards for human consumption. They usually have a minimum and maximum standard for particulate and chemical ingestion for any product and so long as the standards are met by distributors there are no problems. Only when there is a crisis and it can be proven do the standards change.

Boiling or filtering liquids in your kitchen is not a sure thing when it comes to contamination. In this case what you cannot see can hurt you. Unknown particulates are not removed by these methods. Even drinking from a natural spring is not a safe practice. There are too many chemicals that sink into the soil and end up in our drinking sources.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report from 2007 determined that over a billion people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking waters. There are four billion cases of diarrheal disease reported every year. Of these cases more than eighty eight percent can be attributed to contamination, unsanitary living conditions and personal hygiene.

In their report, WHO states that by modifying the living conditions and improving the availability of food and watering resources ninety percent of these cases would not be happening. The very simplest of purifying equipment would help to resolve the issues they suffer from. Safe storage, chlorination and filtration and solar disinfection are bare necessities and should be affordable by world standards.

There are seven sources available for consumption by humanity. Most are available to all populations and can be treated for contamination and made potable. Whether it comes from the ground, a lake or a river it is a viable resource for consumption. Rain and fog can be collected in containers in less developed nations for use by people in refugee camps. 

Working towards the reduction of sickness and aiding the prevention of deaths caused by waterborne diseases needs to be a major goal of all nations on the planet. When working together as a planet water purification needs to be a priority one project.