Importance of Clean Water

Dangers of Untreated Wastewater

Untreated wastewater poses a serious threat to public health and the environment. Typhoid, cholera, hepatitis A, polio and viral gastroenteritis are a few of the diseases that can be contracted from pollutants in wastewater. Wastewater can also carry E. coli and parasites. In recent years, outbreaks of giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis have brought attention to these threats.

Elevated levels of nitrates in water can also be dangerous. Nitrates are the cause of methemoglobinemia, or blue baby syndrome, a condition that prevents the normal uptake of oxygen in the blood of young babies. It is also suspected of causing miscarriages.