Health implications of unwholesomeness of water to man

Introduction

The prevalence of unwholesome water has become an issue of serious concern due to its negative health implications on the health of the people in the community. Several people are currently suffering from various water borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, cancer, kidney failure and some others have died as a result of the consumption of unwholesome water.

According to Olojoba (2009), water is needed to sustain life and has many beneficial uses. Water is the basis of human body and also acts as a vehicle for transportation of nutrients to the tissues and waste materials out of the body. It aids in the regulation of the body temperature and serve as lubricants to facilitate movement of the joints.

Ojugbeli (2008) stated that naturally, water is one of the prime necessities of life, second to air in order of importance. If water is essential for the growth and existence of all forms of life, animal and vegetations, in its absence the higher animal will survive but a few days.

Water can easily be contaminated with physical, chemical and microbiological agents rendering it unwholesome therefore unfit for human consumption. The most common and widespread contamination is by sewage, industrial water or human excrement (Olojoba, 2009).

Definition of unwholesome water

According to Olorunda, Olowoparija, Onojeharho, Samuel, Mercie and Sule (2007), unwholesome water is that water that is unsafe, harmful, contains impurities which when consumed, it affect the health of man. While wholesome water is that water that is free from harmful substances of any sort including pathogenic organism, poisonous chemical, which is pleasing to the eyes and palatable to taste.

Olojoba (2009) stated that unwholesome water is that water that is unsafe, harmful and contains impurities which when consumed, predisposes man to unhealthy condition. The gravity of drinking water is a vital element of public health and well-being of any community large or small. That is why a convenient supply of wholesome water is essential for a healthful life.

World Health Organisation (WHO, 2008) has revealed that 80% of sickness and death among children in the world is caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. Poor quality of water is causing increase damage to people lives mostly in developing countries which will not occur if people are provided with safe water and basic sanitation facilities.

Therefore wholesome water should be made available to meet its required purpose. Water source should be wholesome and consequently free from any contamination. A substance of any sorts, including pathogenic organisms and is further pleasing to the eye and palatable to taste. Water that is meant for human consumption should be wholesome and should not contain any micro-organism. Wholesome water is that water which contains foreign substance among others which tend to degrade its quality so as to constitute health problems or impair the usefulness of the water. On the other hand, it implies pollution with human waste (faeces and urine) which may result into water-borne diseases.

Park (2005) stated that the most cause of ill-health condition which affects man especially in developing countries can be traced to lack of safe and unwholesome water supply. The greatest risks to human health is caused by contaminated water with pathogenic organisms such as Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter, Guardia and Escherichia coli that result to water borne diseases. Examples of these diseases are dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever, diarrhoea etc, therefore individuals who consumes such water is of the risks of acquiring this diseases.

Causes of unwholesomeness of water

Unwholesomeness of water occurs when pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds thereby polluting the water bodies and underground aquifers. Unwholesome water affects the ecosystem, wildlife health and human well-being (Olojoba, 2009).

The following are some of the causes of unwholesomeness of water according to Park (2005):

Industrial waste: This cause huge water pollution with their activities. These come mainly from sulphur, asbestos, lead, mercury, Nitrates, phosphates, oil sewage and waste water, septic tank etc. cause a lot of water pollution in the cities and rural area.
Oil pollution: Routine shipping run offs and dumping of oil on the ocean, surface happen every day. Oil spill makes up about 12% of the oil that enters the ocean. Oil spill causes major problems and can be extremely harmful to local marine wildlife.
Underground storage and tube leakage: Mainly liquid products (petroleum product) are stored in metal and steel tubes underground. Over time they rust and begin to leak if that happen they contaminate the soil and liquid in them end up in many nearly water bodies.
Atmospheric: Atmospheric deposition is the pollution of water bodies caused by air pollution. Each time the air is polluted with sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, they mixed with the water particles in the air and form a toxic substance. This falls as acid rain to the ground and get washes into the water bodies also get contaminate and this affects animals and water organism.
Litters: Littering on the land or on the water is a source of water pollution. Debris tossed on the land eventually makes its way into storm drains and then return to surface water, ships and boats discharging human waste or chemicals into the water directly are simply spreading up the pollution
Increase in water temperature: This cause global warming and thermal plant that use lakes and rivers to cool down mechanical equipment.
Growth of aquatic plants: The growth of algae due to the presence of food items faeces, or urine in the water source is also a source of water pollution. When algae grow in water source it uses up more than its fair share of oxygen, causing other living organisms in the body of water to
Natural disasters: Natural catastrophes are the causes of water pollution effect as well. Major upheavals such as storms earth quakes, acid rains, floods and volcanic eruptions hence been known to disrupt the ecological system and pollute water.

Implications of unwholesomeness of water

The intake of unwholesome water could have a devastating effect on our health, as unsafe drinking water is a key determinate of many microbial diseases with serious complication in immune- compromised and immune competent individuals.

Kwakye (2007) stated that diseases that are associated to the use of water in one form or the other are termed water related diseases. Water related diseases arise as a result of drinking contaminated water, water acting as a breeding ground for carriers of diseases and caused as a result of washing (Olojoba, 2009).

This water related diseases can be classified into groups based on the mechanical route of transmission and water availability. They include the following:

Water- borne infection.
Water- shortage diseases.
Water- base/ water- impounding diseases.
Water- arthropod disease.
Chemical constituents either excess or shortage.

Water-borne infection

These are diseases in which water only act as a passive vehicle or path way for the infective agent which results from poor sanitation. These diseases include cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, typhoid fever, dysentery, leptospirosis infective hepatitis, gastroenteritis, giardiasis etc. These water borne diseases are diseases that occur as a result of consuming water containing pathogenic organism. Water borne diseases can be transmitted by routes which permit faecal materials to pass to the mouth (Obomeokpere 2009).

Water- shortage diseases

These are diseases which occur as a result of lack of adequate quality of wholesome water supply that leads to poor personal hygiene, thereby creating a favourable condition for the spread of related diseases. Example is scabies, skin sepsis and ulcers, house borne typhus, trachoma, conjunctivitis ankylostomiasis (hookworm), amoebic dysentery, ascariasis, etc. (Obomeokpere 2009).

Water-base/ water impounding disease

This is a group of water related disease in which the infective agent spends part of its life cycle in aquatic animals. Thus water provides essential medium for the development of part of the life cycle of the infective agent. Examples are schistosomiasis, dracontiasis (guinea worm) thread worm, onchocerciasis, etc., (Obomeokpere, 2009)

Water- arthropod diseases

These are diseases which spread by a bite of insects vectors that either breed in or near water e.g. malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis), river blindness, etc., (Obomeokpere 2009).

Water-arthropod disease or diseases with related insect vector. Mosquitoes (carries of malaria, filariasis, and yellow fever) and black files (carriers of river blindness) need water for breeding, certain tse-tsefly; vectors of sleeping sickness usually bite near water (Olojoba, 2009).

Chemical constituent either in excess or shortage

This includes fluorisis, while diseases caused by infective agent that are contracted by eating uncooked fish and other food associated with water include, fasciolopsiasis (edible plant) paragonimiasis etc., (Obomeokpere 2009).

Prevention and control of unwholesomeness of water

In order to prevent and control the supply of unwholesome water to the members of the public, the following measures must be adopted.

The state ministry of health and the local government authority in this aspect must ensure that each of the components of water supply system must function without failure.
WHO (2008) opined that there should be adequate water supply in various communities by the federal government.
Water management committee should be established in each community to manage water facilities in their own community.
Political and ethnical consideration should be removed from issues of water supply.
Industries should treat their waste/waste water prior to discharged into the water environment. It is vital for various water sources to be adequately protected, such method could be installation of water treatment plant in urban centre and the use of improve pit latrines in the rural areas.
Olorunda et al (2007), state that drinking water should not contain pathogenic organism and should be free from bacteria which are indicators of pollution. It is therefore important that drinking water sample from sources and storage vessels be tested regularly for indicators of faecal pollution. Water taken from potentially contaminated sources like river, dams, pools, etc. should be purified before it is consumed.
WHO (2008) observed that untreated non-saline ground water is normally much safer for human consumption than any untreated surface water. This is because the ground its self provide effective purifying medium, for such water constitute a major source of drinking water. The underground owners should ensure that all necessary measures are put in place to protect their source of water supply so as to prevent supply of unwholesome water.
People should adopt the practice of boiling of contaminated water so as to render it safe for human consumption. It is very advisable to boil all water to be used for feeding young infants and susceptible adults. Water should be heated at a boiling point of 100^oC (212⁰F) and thereafter, allow to cool down. After the considerable period of time, it is filtered to trap sediment.
Sachet water should be consistently monitored for its microbial quality. Collaboration among all the regulatory bodies should ensure effective enforcement in water quality development or the government should establish a separate independent agency responsible for monitoring the quality of public water supply system as well as package water nationwide as well as regulate a drinking water program (Kwakye 2007).
The importance of health education cannot be over emphasized in the prevention and control of unwholesome water. To ensure safe and wholesome water to the members of the public, there is urgent need for surveillance on the part of those responsible for water distribution. There should be proper diagnosis of infected persons going close to the surface source of water supply in order to prevent the spread of water related diseases. Proper treatment should be administered on infected persons; surface water should be channelled into four sections depending on its uses and importance (Olorunda et al, 2007).
Presenting wetland that acts as natural processing facilities for removing sediment and contaminant helps protect surface and ground water.
Regular keeping of clean street greatly reduces contaminant. In urban areas, reduces materials carried away by storm. Run-off is also helpful, run-off can be diverted away from streams and lakes by separating storm sewers and municipal sewage line to avoid over flow during storms.
Living organism could be used effectively and inexpensively to clean contaminated water. This method is called bioremediation and sanitary land fill method of water disposal and when done carefully certain kinds of industrial waste, sewage, sludge and biodegradable garbage can be good away to dispose unwanted material and as well reduces contaminants in water (Olojoba, 2009).

Methods of water purification/treatment

According to Obomeokpere (2009), there are two major types of water treatment

Small scale or household.
Large scale or conventional or community method of water treatment.

Small scale or household method of water treatment/purification

This method includes:

Boiling
Coagulation and sedimentation
Filtration
Disinfection

Boiling: This is a reliable way of eliminating pathogens for individual households, but it is impracticable on a large scale. It involves heating the water above 100^oC and allowing it to cool. After boiling, the impurities in the water will settle down at the bottom of the pot. It can be used in special circumstance, e.g. when there is a sudden breakdown in the treatment process of a municipal water supply. It is also advisable to boil all water to be used for feeding young infants.

Coagulation and sedimentation: Addition of aluminium sulphate to water leads to flocculation of finely suspended matter, the large particles settle more rapidly, leaving a clear supernatant.

Filtration: Filtration is the process of passing through a porous material, filtration will remove bacteria, protozoa, cysts and other large particles present in water but will not remove virus. Virus filters are used for filtration but great care should be taken so that the filters themselves do not constitute a source of pollution.

Disinfection/chlorination: It must be emphasize here that treated water before it can released for human consumption must be disinfected or chlorinated to prevent contamination of water disease. This is necessary because water after filtration may still contain some pathogenic organisms which must be destroyed.

Steps involve in conventional or large scale water treatment

The major steps involved in water treatment are:

Screening
Aeration
Coagulation
Sedimentation
Filtration
Chlorination
Chlorine/ P^H testing

Screening: When the source of water supply is from water like stream and river, screening before other treatment methods are considered very necessary. The purpose of screening is to eliminate fish and other aquatic animals, large size particles and leaves from damaging the intake pipes. A vertical or bar screen may be used.

Aeration: the purpose of aeration is to restore oxygen to water devoid of some water which lack oxygen has a flat taste which is restored by aeration. Some water may not require aeration. This aeration expels carbon IV oxide (CO₂), hydrogen sulphide which cause odour in water. Some aeration devices include spray aerators and mechanical aerators

Coagulation chamber: The purpose of coagulation is to get the impurities in water to a condition that will enable them settle down or be removed. Some substances that have a quantity of attracting together colloidal substances to from large particles to such a size that they become heavy and settle rapidly called coagulant are used. Example are aluminium sulphate Al₂(SO₄) lime ferrous sulphate Fe₂(SO₄)₃, sodium aluminates (Na₂Al₂NO₄) magnesium trioxide carbonate IV (MgCO₃) etc. these coagulants enhance easy sedimentation (Obomeokpere, 2009).

Sedimentation chamber: This is the process by which particles of heavier than the liquid in which they are contained; gravitate to the bottom of the medium. The ideal sedimentation tank should be circular or rectangular in shape in order to allow particles to settle under gravity downward the bottom of the tank. Sedimentation process, when properly carried out help to reduce the level of contamination of water leaving a clear surface of water (Obomeokpere, 2009).

Filtration chamber: Water is allowed to flow from the sedimentation tank to the filtration chamber when debris that is still suspended in water is filtered up to 85% or more. The filtration chamber is made up of bed of white sand of 5-1.0mm grading. This can be done in two ways, either with the use of the slow gravity sand filter or the rapid sand filter. The slow gravity sand filter is made up of water tight shallow tanks lined with fine gravels and sand. The sand and gravels to be use must be clean, hard, and durable and should be free from clay shells and other foreign matters. The rapid gravity sand filter otherwise known as the pressure filter is also made up of water tight and line with fine gravels and sand. The rate of filtration at the pressure filter is faster as it can be mechanically operated. When the sand filter becomes dirty, the filter is shutdown or may be backwashed for between 20-30 minutes. After this operation, they settle in position and the treatment resumes (Olorunda et al, 2007).

Chlorination: The filtered water is passed into the chlorine dosing tank. The process of chlorination is also referred to as disinfection. Disinfection is the process designed to kill all harmful organism present in the water. Studies have shown that as substantial amount of the harmful organisms are removed. During the coagulation and flocculation process, there is the need to destroy any amount of harmful organism that may be present in the water. Chlorine is the most popularly used disinfectant; the derivate of chlorine that can be use include chlorine gas (Cl₂) sodium oxychloride. Chlorine is a powerful oxidizing agent that is easy to use less expensive and also reliable. It destroys all enzymatic processes necessary for the cell life of all bacteria.

Chlorine/ P^H testing: The disinfected water from the chlorine dosing tank has to be tested to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment. During this process, the acidity and alkalinity content of the water is checked and balanced with the use of low blood colour comparator. The P^H of drinking water ranges between 6.8 and 7.2. It is pertinent to note that the chlorine testing is very necessary to stabilize the odour and test of the water before distribution and thereby preventing any stomach cramps or disorder that may arise from consuming excess dosage of chlorine.

Conclusion

The issue of unwholesome water is a very grievous public health concern to man and this had negatively affected the quality of health enjoyed by man. So many people have died and a lot more are currently suffering from various water borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, cancer, kidney failure, etc. and this is now had necessitated the need to review the health implications of unwholesomeness of water supply in the community with a view to proffering possible solution to it.

Recommendations

The following measures should be put in place to proffer solution to the problem of unwholesome water supply in our communities

Water management committee should be established in various communities to manage water facilities in the community.
The state ministry of health and the local government authority must ensure that each of the components of water supply system must function without failure.
Health education programme should be organised to enlighten the people on the implications of unwholesome water.
Adequate or good personal hygiene attitudes should be put into practice e.g. proper waste disposal and management method should be adopted by handling the everyday turn out of massive waste generation in the environment.
There should be provision of water treatment facilities in the community.
There should be proper monitoring of water quality in the community.
A concrete of about 3 metres should be formed around the mouth of the well (apron) which helps to remove dropped waste water from the surrounding.

References

Kwakye, G. (2007). Sachet Drinking Water in Accra: The Potential Threat of Transmission of Enteric Pathogenic Organisms. Ghana Medical Journal 4(2),56-64

Obomeokpere, N. (2009). Prevention and control of Water related diseases. [Lecture Note]. Ughelli: Delta State College of Health Technology, Ofuoma – Ughelli (unpublished)

Ojugbeli, E. (2008). Introduction to Water Supply and Treatment [Lecture Note]. Ughelli: Delta State College of Health Technology, Ofuoma-Ughelli (Unpublished)

Olojoba, A.O. (2009). Millennium Technology in Waste Management and Environmental Pollution Ughelli :Ama Ohoror Printing Press.

Olorunda, A., Olowaparija, O., Onojeharho, D., Samuel, K., Mercie, O. & Sule, A. (2007). Monitoring and Modelling Techniques of Environmental pollution. Akure: His Mercy Publisher.

Park, K. (2005). Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine. (17^th ed). India: M/S Barnasidas Bhanot Publishers.

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2008). Expert committee review on water sanitation. Geneva: WHO.