LECTURE 4 (Clean water)

Question 1

What causes severe, life-threatening diarrhoea?

Answer 1

Cholera & Dysentery

Question 2

What are the basic steps to treat water?

Answer 2

1) Sedimentation
[Water is allowed to sit quietly while suspended material settles out]
2) Coagulation
[Alum is added, causing small particles to coagulate and settle out]
3) Filtration
[Filtration through sand beds/similar materials to remove smaller particles]
4) Disinfection
[Chlorine is added to kill pathogens]

Question 3

What tests are usually done to check that water is treated properly?

Answer 3

• Turbidity
  [indicates the presence of suspended particles, a failure of sedimentation and filtration steps]
• Coliform levels
  [failure of disinfection, coliform bacteria are not pathogenic but indicates other harmful microorganisms may have survived the treatment process]

Question 4

What are the key measures to reduce the number of cases of diarrhoea?

Answer 4

• Access to safe drinking water
• Improved sanitation
• Good personal and food hygiene
• Health education on infection control

Question 5

What are the key measures to treat diarrhoea?

Answer 5

• Increase in fluid intake to prevent dehydration
• Consulting a health worker if there are signs of dehydration