We will briefly discuss the medical field to help us understand pathogenic bacteria and viruses in drinking water. Understanding their simple terms and cycles will give us a clear picture of what they are and how they occur.
A pathogen is an infectious agent. It is a biological agent that causes illness in its host, a susceptible animal or human body that these microorganisms feed on and multiply.
The individual host should be susceptible because these individuals have a low resistance to these microorganisms. Truth be told, though, some bacteria and viruses are sometimes helpful to the human body.
For example, the live bacteria found in vaccines like Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) help ward off illnesses and increase children's resistance to disease-causing microorganisms.
Human papillomavirus is also used as a vaccine to prevent polio. These good bacteria and viruses help the human body increase disease resistance.
How do pathogenic bacteria and viruses infect the body?
Though bacteria and viruses are natural floras of the environment, and some help build the body's resistance to future bacterial infestation, some are pathogenic bacteria and viruses, which mainly cause illnesses or diseases. There is a specific name for this process.
In the medical world, the process of infecting the body with these pathogens is known as The Chain of Infection. It starts with the Pathogen or Infectious Agent, natural flora, and deposits found in drinking water, land, or food. These sources of deposits of pathogenic bacteria and viruses are called reservoirs.
Once we drink, eat, or touch the reservoirs of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, we expose ourselves to these disease-causing microorganisms. Thus, the Portal of Exit occurs.
The exit portal is when the pathogenic bacteria and viruses exit the reservoir where the microorganisms are stored, and then the Mode of Transmission happens.
The transmission mode is how pathogenic bacteria and viruses enter the host, and it can be through skin-to-skin contact or mouth.
By the time the pathogenic bacteria and viruses are transmitted, the Portal of Entry happens, wherein the pathogenic bacteria and viruses enter the Susceptible Host. The moment it enters the body, it multiplies until the infected host feels signs and symptoms.
Some initial signs and symptoms are flu, runny nose, unproductive cough, and fever. These are the result of the body’s resistance to fighting these microorganisms.
Though each is susceptible to diseases, individuals who cannot fight these microorganisms develop serious and sometimes debilitating diseases.
Some diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria and viruses are life-threatening and incurable. Knowing all this information, how safe are we from these disease-causing microorganisms?
How pathogenic bacteria and viruses are removed from our drinking water, and how can we drink safe water?
Now that we know one of the reservoirs of pathogenic bacteria and viruses in water, how can we assure ourselves that it is safe to drink?
To ensure that water is potable, the water treatment facility has certain processes to remove pathogenic bacteria and viruses from water and make it safe to drink.
Some public water treatment systems use chemicals to remove pathogenic bacteria and viruses from drinking water. Some water treatment facilities use different processes to kill pathogenic bacteria and viruses in drinking water. Such a process is with the use of radiation.
This section provides short information about the process of purifying drinking water. First and foremost, it involves water coming from springs, rivers, and lakes and being directed to dams for storage.
Once stored in dams, it goes to the public water treatment facility to be filtered and purified. Drinking water will be filtered from organic substances that are present in water.
Once filtered from particles, water is directed to different stores to be chlorinated. Not all pathogenic bacteria and viruses are affected, but chlorine kills these microorganisms.
Chlorine is left to dissolve in water, and until the smell of chlorine is detected, it is distributed to the community for use.
There is a water treatment facility that doesn’t just end with the chlorination process. Some use chemicals to filter and purify water to remove pathogenic bacteria and viruses from drinking water. Some water treatment plants use ultraviolet radiation to kill pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
The use of chemicals acts as reagents to remove pathogenic microorganisms.
Depending on the use, some chemical agents are used as flocculating agents. When mixed with water, these reagents clump particles together, large enough to be filtered out and removed from the water. Some chemical reagents used have an unusual reaction.
These chemical reagents emit heat to kill pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Once this is done, another self-regulating chemical is added to water to give it a natural taste. After the chlorination process, ultraviolet radiation is used to purify water, which inhibits bacterial growth in drinking water.
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