Water and Health

Question 1

Name two of the impacts of dirty water?

Answer 1

1) Diarrhoea

2) Cholera

Question 2

What was Cholera in the in the 1830’s referred to in the UK?

Answer 2

Summer Cholera

Question 3

What was there in the 1830’s relating diarrhoea?

Answer 3

A more severe form was known as Asiatic Cholera and was introduced in Sunderland.

Question 4

What happened in Newcastle 1853?

Answer 4

1) Biggest Cholera outbreak ever in the UK
2) tap-water and river water was mixed
3) 1533 people died in 9 weeks, which is equivalent to 17,800 people today.

Question 5

Where do diseases spread from?

Answer 5

From human or animal faeces to the mouth, typically causing diarrhoea or dysentery but also:

1) Paralysis
2) Hepatitis
3) Kidney disease
4) Roundworm
5) Hookworm

Question 6

Name 4 bacterial agents?

Answer 6

1) Bacteria
2) Viruses
3) Worms
4) Protozoan

Question 7

Name 6 characteristics of a bacteria cell?

Answer 7

1) Simple single cell
2) 1 micro meter in diameter
3) Come in many shapes
4) Mostly harmless
5) Example of bacteria is Escherichia Coli
6) Some can cause: Salmonella, Campylobacter and Vibrio Cholera.

Question 8

Name 5 characteristics of a virus?

Answer 8

1) Not alive: Nucleic acid and protein
2) Very small
3) Very tough
4) Typically host specific
5) Example are: Rota-virus, Noro-virus and polio-virus.

Question 9

Name 3 characteristics of a protozoan?

Answer 9

1) Single celled
2) 4-20 micro meters in diameter
3) Examples are: Giardia Lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica and Cryptosporidium parvum.

Question 10

Sketch the F-diagram.

Answer 10

Look in notes.

Question 11

Clean water is a start but what must you also need? (4)

Answer 11

1) Enough water
2) Sanitation
3) Education
4) Hygiene behaviour

Question 12

What halves the rates of diarrhoea in children and is more effect than any single vaccine?

Answer 12

Soap+water+education.

Question 13

Name 3 of civil engineering’s greatest achievements in this area?

Answer 13

1) 19th century Sanitary Revolution
2) Life expectancy in urban areas increased
3) Precedes virtually all modern medical advances.

Question 14

Name 2 civil engineering challenges and then explain the consequence of not having that challenge being fulfilled?

Answer 14

1) Challenge- One billion people lack clean drinking water. The consequence is that Diarrhoea kills 1.5 million children every year.
2) Challenge- 3 billion have adequate sanitation. The consequence is that two billion cases of diarrhoea disease each year.

Question 15

What is diarrhoea the leading cause of?

Answer 15

Malnutrition in children under the ages of 5.

Question 16

What happens when Civil Engineers get it right? (4)

Answer 16

1) Provide good health
2) Cleanliness
3) Improved income
4) Happy families

Question 17

What happens when Civil Engineers get it wrong? (2)

Answer 17

1) Mainline death to whole cities

2) Death and disease on an enormous scale

Question 18

When is water is safe to drink?

Answer 18

If water has no pathogens

Question 19

How do we test to see if water has pathogens?

Answer 19

Testing for pathogens is complicated and no pathogens today doesn’t mean no pathogens tomorrow therefore we test for contamination by faeces.

Question 20

Name 4 types of harmless bacteria.

Answer 20

1) Escherichia Coli- Indicator organisms
2) Streptococcus faecalis- Indicator organisms
3) Lactobacillus
4) Bifidobacterium

Question 21

What defines an indicator organism? (5)

Answer 21

1) Only found in faeces
2) More numerous than pathogens
3) Is a good analogue of pathogens
4) Safe
5) Easy to count

Question 22

When testing for faecal contamination what are the most common coli-forms?

Answer 22

Faecal coli-forms mostly E-coli, not easy to see with a microscope so you must grow it in a lab.

Question 23

Describe the first step when growing faecal coli-forms.

Answer 23

1) Collect the indicator- Sterilise all the apparatus. Place a sterile membrane on the filter. Place top on the filter. Add ringers solution. Add sample. Filter water through membrane.

Question 24

Describe the second step when growing faecal coli-forms.

Answer 24

2) Growing the bacteria- prepare a petri-dish. Pad soaked with nutrients and selective chemicals. place the filter on the pad in the petri-dish. Incubate at 44 degrees Celsius for 18 hours.

Question 25

Describe the third step when growing faecal coli-forms.

Answer 25

3) Counting the coli-forms- Where a single coli-form lands it will grow and form yellow colonies. Count the number of colonies. Calculate the faecal coli-form per 100ml.

Question 26

What do you call it when there are faecal coli-forms in your drinking water?

Answer 26

Your drinking water is faecally contaminated and the more faecal coli-forms the more contaminated the water is.