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Did
you know?
Reverse osmosis is the finest water filtration method known. This process will
allow the removal of particles as small as ions from a solution. It is used
to purify water and remove salts and other impurities in order to improve the
color, taste or properties of the fluid. R.O. uses a membrane that is semi-permeable,
allowing the fluid that is being purified to pass through it, while rejecting
other ions and contaminants from passing.
This technology uses a process
known as crossflow to allow the r.o. membrane to continually clean itself. This
is the reason of why an r.o. element can last many years before clogging or
need replacement. This
water purification process requires a driving force to push the fluid through
the membrane, and the most common force is household water pressure or pressure
from a booster pump. The higher the pressure, the larger the driving force and
efficiency.
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Disease-causing
organisms in drinking water
TASTE, ODOR, AND TURBIDITY
Regardless of any other
factors, water piped into the home must be potable. To be potable it should
be completely free of disease organisms. Water is the breeding ground
for an almost unbelievably large variety of organisms. Water does not
produce these organisms. It merely is an ideal medium in which they can
grow. These organisms gain entry into water through a variety of sources.
They enter water from natural sources, surface drainage, and sewage. Many
of the organisms in water are harmless. In fact, they are extremely beneficial
to man. Others have a mild nuisance value. And still others are a source
of disease.
In general, those organisms
which are potential disease-producers are of primary concern. These are
of five types: (1) bacteria, (2) protozoa, (3) worms, (4) viruses, and
(5) fungi. The presence of certain organisms of these various types can
lead to such infectious diseases as typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera,
jaundice, hepatitis, giardiasis, undulant fever and tularemia, as well
as other diseases which spread through drinking unsafe water.
Tremendous strides
have been made in the control of these diseases within recent years. Much
of the credit must go to sanitary engineers for their careful, consistent
control of public water supplies. As proof, outbreaks of typhoid fever
in either this country or Canada are rare. Natural disasters can play
havoc with water supplies, but under routine conditions typhoid is no
longer a serious threat. Paradoxically, the freedom from typhoid and other
similar water-borne diseases makes necessary even greater vigilance today.
For now whole generations have grown up without the opportunity to develop
a natural immunity to such diseases. Thus a failure in the protective
system could result in far more people succumbing to the disease than
in the past.
As was previously indicated,
many waterÂborne organisms are extremely beneficial to man. Bacteria,
protozoa and fungi that purify polluted water are essential to our well-being.
Many of these organisms set into motion the chain reactions that result
in purification.
We can classify living
organisms in many ways and into many groups. Modern taxonomy categorizes
living organisms into five kingdoms: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae,
and Animalia. Monera include single-celled bacteria and photosynthetic
blue-green algae. They differ from all other organisms in that their more
primitive cell structures lack a nuclear membrane as well as other membrane-bound
organelles. They are called prokaryotes.
All
other organisms are eukaryotes, that is organisms with cells that have
distinct nuclei surrounded by nuclear membranes, as well as a variety
of other well-defined membranous organelles. Organelles are specialized
parts of cells (as mitochondria, chloroplasts, or endoplasmic reticulum)
performing functions analogous to those of organs in many-celled plants
and animals.
Members of the kingdom
Protista are known as protists. They are solitary, single-celled eukaryotes
(but some species form loose aggregations of cells called colonies).
Animal-like protists are the protozoa; they are generally larger than
bacteria and are mobile. Plant-like protists include several divisions
of algae; these contain chlorophyll and carry on photosynthesis.
The Fungi are a diverse
group of eukaryotes that are plant-like but that cannot carry on photosynthesis.
They serve as decomposers, absorbing nutrients from dead leaves or other
organic matter in soil and water. Fungi produce spores during the reproductive
process. They consist of slime molds, such as the slimy masses found on
decaying leaves and wood, and the true fungi, such as molds, yeasts, mildew,
and mushrooms.
Plantae
(plant) and Animalia (animal) kingdoms consist of the multicellular and
well-developed plants and animals we are all familiar with. Plant cells
contain photosynthetic pigments, such as chlorophyll, and plants carry
out photosynthesis. Animal cells lack photosynthetic pigments, so animals
must obtain nutrients by eating other organisms.
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