Water-borne diseases
Topic: Geographical Issues: Pollution, Urban Waste, Slums and Land Degradation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 9 "Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems"
Meaning
Water-borne diseases are illnesses that spread through dirty water. Germs and worms from human and animal waste enter water used for drinking, cooking or bathing. People get sick when they swallow it. Common examples are diarrhoea, intestinal worms, hepatitis, typhoid and cholera. According to the World Health Organization, about one-fourth of the communicable diseases (diseases that spread from person to person) in India are water-borne. NCERT notes that almost all surface water in India is unfit to drink without treatment.
Example
In Daurala village near Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, factory wastewater seeped into the groundwater and added heavy metals to it. A health survey by an NGO in 2003 led to a new pipeline for safe drinking water.
Don't confuse with
- Water-related diseases such as malaria: mosquitoes carry malaria. They breed in still water, but people do not catch it by drinking dirty water.
Related concepts
- Water pollution
- Biochemical oxygen demand
- Polluted river stretches
- Sewage treatment gap
- Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974