Emergency Drinking Water: Biological Water Contaminants

When looking for sources of emergency drinking water in the wild, the primary concern is avoiding consuming possible biological water contaminants. Here is some important information to know about some of the most dangerous biological water contaminants: Giardia lambia, Cryptosporidium, Flukes, Salmonella and Vibrio cholerae.

Giardia lambia

The parasite Giardia lambia is probably the most common biological water contaminant to North American waters. This nasty protozoan freeloader takes up stake in the small intestine, where it goes to town reproducing and causing giardasis, also known as beaver fever. Despite the common name, fever rarely occurs with giardasis. Instead, mild to severe diarrhea is the primary symptom, often lasting long enough to cause weight loss. Thankfully, the parasites can usually be flushed out readily with modern medicine. However, the symptoms could reek havoc on someone cut off from society, and there are some strains that are particularly resistant to the usual lines of medical treatment.

Cryptosporidium Spp

Cryptosporidium is another protozoan parasite that is a common human pathogen found in North American waters. Although the first case of crypytosporidiosis was not diagnosed until 1976, this biological water contaminant has emerged as another important reason to consider treating your emergency drinking water before you choose to drink it. Because not much as much is known about this parasite, it can prove considerably more difficult to treat than giardasis.

Flukes

Water taken from rivers, streams or lakes that contain livestock runoff are susceptible to contamination by flukes. Flukes are a set of particularly nasty flatworms called Trematoda that typically infect the digestive system but can also spread to the brain, lungs and other critical areas. Without getting into the unpleasant details, they cause some seriously unpleasant symptoms that are best avoided and provide a clear reminder to treat your drinking water in the wild for biological water contaminants.

Salmonella and Vibrio cholerae

Salmonella and Vibrio cholerae are two more biological water contaminants that have the potential of making emergency drinking water deadly to drink. Vibrio cholerae causes cholera while Salmonella is the most frequent source of serious foodborne illness. Thankfully, these two biological water contaminants are not nearly as widespread in the United States as they are in other parts of the world.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_purification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_water_purification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardia_lamblia
http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/giardiasis/fact_sheet.htm
http://prep4md.blogspot.com/2008/07/parasitology-trematoda-related-free.html
http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio38/hannahs/crypto.htm
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/mar/27/water-contamination-hits-home/