Symptoms of Drinking Contaminated Water

What are the symptoms of drinking contaminated water? This is a question you may ask if going on a trip overseas to some of the poorer countries whose supplies are questionable. Although, you do not have to travel to have this problem, it can be right on your doorstep.

Water can become contaminated by many things. These things can be protozoal infections which can be like cryptosporidium, which causes a flu, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhoea, weight loss and bloating with increased gas. Another is Giardia, which causes diarrhoea, bloating, abdominal discomfort and gas. There are three others in this group and they can all display similar symptoms.

Another is the bacterial infection of dysentery caused by a salmonella contamination. This infection causes diarrhoea with blood, fever, stomach pain, vomiting, and an e.coli infection. It also causes loose watery bowel movements and sometimes death from dehydration in the young and very old, as well as those with a low immune system from a prolonged illness. There are twelve others in this group with varying symptoms. They mostly have a feeling of being very unwell to respiratory problems, chills, fevers, muscle aches, pains, tiredness, and in serious cases pneumonia.

There are also the parasites that can get into a person by drinking dirty water. These are mostly caused by the ingestion of eggs or larvae, which hatch inside the human body and can cause all kinds of unpleasant reactions. These can range from such things as nausea, vomiting, loose bowels, liver enlargement and jaundice, as well as fevers. Each has its own particular area where it migrates to and its own set of irritations. World wide there are nine which can be picked up from unclean storage.

The final type is viruses, and there are six of these. These are ones that can cause cold and flu, pneumonia, coughs, tiredness, headaches, sore throat, jaundice, depression and many other things. Each has its own misery and some can also cause death.

When looking at this list it is not hard to see why clean drinking water is a must. Any of the symptoms of these various problems would wear a person down with ruined health, and some would take a great deal of recovery.

Clean drinking water can be obtained in several ways. One way is by using a filter which has been specially designed for this purpose, and another is by boiling water. Boiling may remove all of the so called bugs, but will not remove chemicals or heavy metals as the filters do. If you are interested in these filters try your local plumbing store or the internet for more information.

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