Drinking water
hideDrinking water is water of sufficiently high quality that it can be consumed or used without risk of immediate or long term harm. Such water is commonly called potable water. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion (often 5% or less) is actually consumed or used in food preparation.[citation needed]
Over large parts of the world, humans have inadequate access to potable water and use sources contaminated with disease vectors, pathogens or unacceptable levels of dissolved chemicals or suspended solids. Such water is not potable and drinking or using such water in food preparation leads to widespread acute and chronic illness and is a major cause of death in many countries.
Typically, water supply networks deliver potable water, whether it is to be used for drinking, washing or landscape irrigation. One counterexample is urban China, where drinking water can optionally be delivered by a separate tap.
For more information about Drinking water, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with drinking water
Reclaimed Riddle
Sep 28, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- It was the "yuck factor" of reclaimed water that got Karyna Rosario thinking. As communities increasingly turn to reclaimed water as a source for irrigation - and some communities consider ...
School drinking water contains toxins
Sep 25, 2009 |
4 / 5 (4) |
4
(AP) -- Over the last decade, the drinking water at thousands of schools across the country has been found to contain unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.
Increased risk of birth defects after PCE exposure
Sep 23, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Exposure to tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchlorethylene, PCE) may cause congenital birth defects. A study of expectant women exposed to PCE in drinking water, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental He ...
'Benchmark glaciers' shrinking at faster rate, study finds
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 07, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (10) |
18
Climate change is shrinking three of the nation's most studied glaciers at an accelerated rate, and government scientists say that finding bolsters global concerns about rising sea levels and the availability of fresh drinking ...
Simple measures may prevent transmission of stomach ulcer bacteria
Jun 24, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
The stomach ulcer bacterium Helicobacter pylori is not transmitted through drinking water as previously thought, but rather through vomit and possibly faeces. This is shown in a thesis at the Sahlgrenska Academ ...
First 'nanorust' field test slated in Mexico
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
May 27, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
2
Rice University researchers today announced that the first field tests of "nanorust," the university's revolutionary, low-cost technology for removing arsenic from drinking water, will begin later this year ...
Scientists link influenza A (H1N1) susceptibility to common levels of arsenic exposure
May 20, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
The ability to mount an immune response to influenza A (H1N1) infection is significantly compromised by a low level of arsenic exposure that commonly occurs through drinking contaminated well water, scientists ...
What's in your water?: Disinfectants create toxic by-products
Mar 31, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (16) |
7
Although perhaps the greatest public health achievement of the 20th century was the disinfection of water, a recent study now shows that the chemicals used to purify the water we drink and use in swimming pools react with ...
A 'bionic nose' that knows
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Mar 30, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
Both cancer cells and the chemicals used to make bombs can foil detection because they appear in trace amounts too small for conventional detection techniques. Tel Aviv University has developed the ultimate solution: a molecule ...
Engineer helps poor in developing nations purify drinking water
Mar 16, 2009 |
4 / 5 (4) |
0
The device looks deceptively simple - a porous clay pot placed in a five-gallon plastic bucket with a spigot - but Vinka Craver believes it can save millions of lives each year.
Arsenic linked to cardiovascular disease at EPA-regulated drinking water standards
Nov 13, 2008 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
When mice are exposed to arsenic at federally-approved levels for drinking water, pores in liver blood vessels close, potentially leading to cardiovascular disease, say University of Pittsburgh researchers in the Dec. 1 issue ...
Waterborne disease risk upped in Great Lakes
Oct 08, 2008 |
4 / 5 (4) |
0
An anticipated increased incidence of climate-related extreme rainfall events in the Great Lakes region may raise the public health risk for the 40 million people who depend on the lakes for their drinking water, according ...
Biological sand filters, a practical approach to combat poverty and inequality
Biology /
Sep 24, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
1
Microbiologically contaminated water plagues approximately 1.1 billion people in rural and peri-urban populations in developing countries. Roughly 2.2 million people without safe access to drinking water die each year from ...
Water purification down the nanotubes
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Sep 15, 2008 |
4.1 / 5 (18) |
1
Nanotechnology could be the answer to ensuring a safe supply of drinking water for regions of the world stricken by periodic drought or where water contamination is rife. Writing in the International Journal of Nuclear De ...
