How Bad Are The Consequences? Health Effects On Drinking Contaminated Water

One should be aware of the numerous health issues related to drinking contaminated or filthy water. City water supplies, well water supplies, and fresh water sources including lakes, streams, and rivers can all become contaminated due to a variety of reasons. Although with some form of treatment, a lot of this water ends up reaching your taps in the U.S. Drinking this contaminated water can affect you and your family with a variety of negative and deadly situations.

Cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio are just a few of the illnesses that can spread due to contaminated water and poor sanitation. People are exposed to health risks that can be avoided when water and sanitation services are absent, subpar, or improperly managed. There are several methods by which water gets polluted.

How aware are you about these impacts and consequences? Do you know if the water in your house is safe to drink? Can you be sure that you have clean and safe drinking water? Let’s move forward to find some answers that might help you understand the effects as well as stay protected!

What contaminated water really is?

According to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), a "contaminant" is any material that is physically, chemically, biologically, or radiologically present in water. It is possible to assume drinking water is contaminated with certain pollutants even if it is present in small amounts. Hence, prolonged consumption of contaminated water can lead to severe and deadly health issues.

Does contaminated or dirty water have a smell?

The taste or odor of the water may occasionally change. On some occasions there will be a pungent smell and a weird taste from the water but however, a lot of pollutants are tasteless and odorless. On many occasions there is no visible or aesthetic trace of contamination to assess.

What consuming contaminated water can lead to

First of all, it is important to understand that people's health consequences may or may not manifest right away. The intensity of the actual effects experienced can also depend on aspects like the person's age, physical condition, and general state of health. Some may have tolerance to the effects while others with weaker immune systems will get sick easily. It is also severely impacted by the amount of contamination present in the water and for how long an individual has been consuming it or been exposed to it.

Health effects on drinking contaminated water

The following waterborne diseases are just a few of the most frequently mentioned issues caused by consuming polluted water.

These conditions directly affect the digestive system.

• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Stomach or Digestive cramps
• Aches and pains in the stomach or the intestine
• Dehydration

Additionally, certain long-term consequences may be experienced but are not immediately apparent. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Bacterial infections like E. coli
• Bacterial infections with coliforms
• Lead toxicity
• Poisoning by arsenic
• Radium toxicity
• Exposed to harmful medications
• Toxicity due to exposure to radiological contaminants
• Toxicity due to the ingestion of herbicides
• Pathogen-driven microbial infections

How can water contamination be managed?

• Find a filtration system that works for you and your family. Ensure you use only filtered and purified water for consumption. A portable water filter like the ETA Alkaline Water Filter Bottle is something you can easily trust for water filtration. It has zero down time and provides instant purification. Plus, you can carry it around.
• Never flush any household cleaners or chemicals down the toilet or sink. In the event of a leak or pipe break, the chemicals may immediately impact the water supply. Instead, discard the chemicals at a nearby facility that handles hazardous trash.
• Never flush pills, powdered drugs, or any other type of medical waste down the drain or into the toilet. Medical wastes in water can be a severe problem. You should look up appropriate disposal procedures for various kinds of medical waste and then put them to use.
• Water pollution can be an outcome of incorrect garbage disposal methods. Keep your solid wastes in the same condition. Make a compost mound out of your veggie leftovers instead of flushing them down the garbage disposal.
• Install water-saving equipment in your house. For instance, to save water, choose a toilet or sink that uses less water. In fact, doing so can help lessen problems with water contamination. 

Can water be made safer by boiling it?

Many believe boiling water is the best method to remove all the contaminants in water. It’s true up to a certain extent because some of the microorganisms like parasites, bacteria, and viruses can be killed using the boiling technique. But at the same time, due to water evaporation, boiling can also raise the amounts of pollutants in it. In the water we drink, with the type of contaminants in it, boiling can either remove or increase the contaminants in your drinking water. Often, it also destroys the already present nutrients and minerals.

How can ETA help you to remove water contaminations?

ETA was created as a breakthrough since there wasn't a water purifier that could be relied upon to produce Extreme Filtration, especially in a crisis or emergency. The newest Ionic Adsorption Micro Filtration (IAMF) Technology is incorporated in the ETA Alkaline Water Filter Bottle which initiates the filtration procedure with the simple but unique sip and squeeze mechanism, instantly. It works as a purification device and a system that removes all four major areas of contamination (aesthetic, chemical, dissolved solids, and radiological) from your daily drinking water, no matter the source.

ETA's Extreme Filtration capacity allows for the elimination of contaminants while retaining the nutrient and mineral value while turning it into alkaline water with a pH of 9.5 that lasts up to 30 days.

With ETA’s special ability in Extreme Filtration, one of the most concerning and required elements, which is contamination-free water, is sure to be eased. With this portable water filter bottle, staying hydrated while also making sure the water you’re consuming despite being in a suspected contamination area, becomes way easier since this can filter out any contaminated agents in water and turn it into pure and safe to consume water. 

Effects on drinking contaminated water can be severe and can harm your and your family’s health. Therefore, it is necessary to take precautions and necessary safety measures before drinking water from any source as the health effects on drinking contaminated water might be deadly. A simple method to ensure proper hydration is to keep your ETA Alkaline Water Filter Bottle close at hand and use it only for drinking water, regardless of the source. By using the portable filter bottle, you ensure not only your own safety but the safety of your loved ones from water contamination. 

Get the word out about the ill effects on drinking contaminated water and educate your family, friends, and larger communities on how to protect yourself against water contamination with the use of a simple yet trusty gear like ETA!