Water purification

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Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids and gases from contaminated water.[1]

Contaminants

Aside from sediment, contaminants typically found in non-purified water are[2]:

  • Protozoa
  • Bacteria
    • E. coli
    • Salmonella
    • Campylobacter
    • Shigella
    • (many others)
  • Viruses
    • Hepatitis A
    • Enterovirus
    • Norovirus
    • Rotavirus
    • (many others)

Cryptosporidium

Potential health effects from ingestion of water contaminated with Cryptosporidium are:

  1. Gastrointestinal illness (for example, diarrhea, vomiting, cramps).

Sources of Cryptosporidium in drinking water are:

  1. Human and animal fecal waste.

Methods that may remove some or all of Cryptosporidium from water are:

  1. Boiling (rolling boil for 1 minute) - very high effectiveness;
  2. Filtration - high effectiveness, when using an absolute less than or equal to 1 micron filter (NSF Standard 53 or 58 rated "cyst reduction / removal" filter);

Methods that are not effective in killing Cryptosporidium:

  1. Disinfection with iodine or chlorine is not effective in killing Cryptosporidium;
  2. Disinfection with chlorine dioxide has a low to moderate effectiveness in killing Cryptosporidium;

Combination filtration and disinfection has a very high effectiveness in removing and killing Cryptosporidium when used with chlorine dioxide and an absolute less than or equal to 1 micron filter (NSF Standard 53 or 58 rated "cyst reduction / removal" filter).


References