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UV And Indoor Air Quality

The Safety Of Drinking Water 

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UV And Indoor Air Quality
 

The safety of our drinking water is often taken for granted.

UV Water Disinfection System

In recent years, however, environmentalists and the media have drawn attention to the dangers of ground water pollution and the health risks from chlorine, pesticides, organic chemicals, and various microorganisms that have been found to contaminate our public water supplies. Outbreaks of waterborne diseases are a common occurrence and have involved entire city populations, sometimes leading to serious complications and even fatalities.

The carcinogenic properties of organic chemicals as well as radionuclides are a main cause for concern. Public health authorities have in the past relied more on filtration and disinfection treatment processes rather than water monitoring to ensure the safety of drinking water, because of the complexity of laboratory analyses.

There is a need for education of consumers regarding the sources and types of water contamination, the recognition of symptoms of waterborne diseases, and the benefits of UV Disinfection.

Bacterial contamination should be suspected at times of flooding or earthquake. A sudden change in water appearance from clear to turbid might suggest contamination with the parasite, Cryptosporidium, the organism that caused serious diarrheal illness in one half million of the population of the city of Milwaukee in the spring of 1993, with 100 fatalities.

The massive outbreak of Cryptosporidium infection in Milwaukee in 1993 was a reflection not only of the inadequate filtration system and inefficient water quality monitoring but also resulted from the slow response of physicians to recognize and diagnose the cause of the waterborne illness in patients who sought medical help.

Cases were misdiagnosed as viral gastroenteritis or "intestinal flu" without further investigation, and the special testing procedures required for the detection of Cryptosporidium in stools examined for ova and parasites were not requested. The delay in diagnosis resulted in an outbreak involving nearly one half a million individuals.

A total of 96 outbreaks of waterborne disease reported to the Center for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency, 1986-1992, accounted for 46,712 confirmed cases of gastrointestinal illness. The majority of cases were either of unknown cause, presumed viral in origin, or traced to Crybtosporidium. Other common organisms were Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, and hepatitis A. Since the 1993 outbreak in Milwaukee, Cryptosporidium has outnumbered all other organisms in terms of numbers of individuals affected by waterborne illness. Chlorination will not remove Cryptosporidium.

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About American Air & Water®, Inc. - American Air & Water®, Inc. specializes in research, development, marketing and sales of air, surface and water germicidal UV disinfection systems and providing solutions for reducing human exposure to environmental pollutants and controlling the spread of harmful microorganisms inside homes, offices, hospitals, schools, farms, food plants and laboratories.

 

 

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