Water and Health Flashcards
Name two of the impacts of dirty water?
1) Diarrhoea
2) Cholera
What was Cholera in the in the 1830’s referred to in the UK?
Summer Cholera
What was there in the 1830’s relating diarrhoea?
A more severe form was known as Asiatic Cholera and was introduced in Sunderland.
What happened in Newcastle 1853?
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.
Where do diseases spread from?
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
Name 4 bacterial agents?
1) Bacteria
2) Viruses
3) Worms
4) Protozoan
Name 6 characteristics of a bacteria cell?
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.
Name 5 characteristics of a virus?
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.
Name 3 characteristics of a protozoan?
1) Single celled
2) 4-20 micro meters in diameter
3) Examples are: Giardia Lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica and Cryptosporidium parvum.
Sketch the F-diagram.
Look in notes.
Clean water is a start but what must you also need? (4)
1) Enough water
2) Sanitation
3) Education
4) Hygiene behaviour
What halves the rates of diarrhoea in children and is more effect than any single vaccine?
Soap+water+education.
Name 3 of civil engineering’s greatest achievements in this area?
1) 19th century Sanitary Revolution
2) Life expectancy in urban areas increased
3) Precedes virtually all modern medical advances.
Name 2 civil engineering challenges and then explain the consequence of not having that challenge being fulfilled?
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.
What is diarrhoea the leading cause of?
Malnutrition in children under the ages of 5.
What happens when Civil Engineers get it right? (4)
1) Provide good health
2) Cleanliness
3) Improved income
4) Happy families
What happens when Civil Engineers get it wrong? (2)
1) Mainline death to whole cities
2) Death and disease on an enormous scale
When is water is safe to drink?
If water has no pathogens
How do we test to see if water has pathogens?
Testing for pathogens is complicated and no pathogens today doesn’t mean no pathogens tomorrow therefore we test for contamination by faeces.
Name 4 types of harmless bacteria.
1) Escherichia Coli- Indicator organisms
2) Streptococcus faecalis- Indicator organisms
3) Lactobacillus
4) Bifidobacterium
What defines an indicator organism? (5)
1) Only found in faeces
2) More numerous than pathogens
3) Is a good analogue of pathogens
4) Safe
5) Easy to count
When testing for faecal contamination what are the most common coli-forms?
Faecal coli-forms mostly E-coli, not easy to see with a microscope so you must grow it in a lab.
Describe the first step when growing faecal coli-forms.
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.
Describe the second step when growing faecal coli-forms.
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.
