|  | Public Health Safety | Public Health

The Effects of Untreated Waste Water

Wastewater is used water from residences, industries and agriculture. It can contain human waste such as feces, urine, used toilet paper or septic tank discharge. Besides these contaminants, it is polluted with concentrates and various pathogens including bacteria, viruses and prions. Some of these are responsible for diseases such as cholera and dysentery. More than 850 billion gallons of raw or untreated sewage reach streams, rivers and lakes every year in the U.S., according to American Rivers.

  1. Water-Borne Diseases

    • Wastewater generally includes washing water, water from rain collected on roofs and oils from open ground areas. The wastewater from domestic usage is usually carried separately into sanitary sewers, where it is treated. There are times when sewers overflow with wastewater, resulting in sewer water flowing back into the environment before it is treated, creating serious threats to the environment and public health from the disease-carrying microbes that it carries.

    Domestic Cleaning Substances

    • Substances used for domestic cleaning contribute to water pollution because of the harmful chemicals they contain. Detergents and washing powers, according to gobiidae.com, a website that provides information the systematics, ecology, biogeography, breeding, and economic importance of gobioid fishes, contains phosphates which are intended to help soften the water. In a sewer, lake or stream, organic materials are decomposed by microorganisms. Eutrophication, or overabundance of nutrients, resulting from the nitrates and phosphate found in human waste provides nutrients for algae and bacteria in sewer-contaminated water. This leads to overpopulation of the organisms, which use up most of the dissolved oxygen that water is naturally endowed with. According to Mount Empire Community College, domestic wastewater prior to entering the treatment plant will contain from 100,000 to 1 million microorganisms per milliliter. When these are released into water supplies, other organisms in the aquatic environment will find it hard to survive.

    Contaminated Food

    • Health problems affecting the colon and rectum, also known as gastrointestinal disorders, have been traced to sewage pollution, according to gobiidae.com. Viruses from contaminated water have been linked to the illness. Fish strain water through the gills to trap microscopic plants and animals for food and when the water is contaminated with disease-causing organisms, whoever consumes contaminated fish will become sick, particularly if the fish is undercooked or raw. Detergents in contaminated water can damage your liver and kidney. Sewer water also carries waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery and giardiasis.

    Wastewater Treatment

    • The safest way to dispose of wastewater is by treating it. Wastewater treatment facilities can remove organic and suspended solids, according to pollutionissues.com, to mitigate the effects of pollution on the environment. Once the contaminants are dealt with, the water can be reused or disposed of safely.

Public Health - Related Articles