Bacteria in drinking water are tiny organisms naturally occurring in water.

Not all types of bacteria in water are harmful. Many organisms found in water are of no health concern since they do not cause disease.

Biological contamination of drinking water may be separated into two groups:

(1) (2)

pathogenic (disease-causing) non-pathogenic (not disease-causing).

Pathogenic bacteria It cause illnesses such as typhoid fever, dysentery, gastroenteritis, infectious hepatitis, and cholera. All water supplies should be tested for biological content prior to use and consumption. E.Coli (Escherichia Coli) is the coliform bacterial organism which is looked for when testing the water. This organism is found in the intestines and fecal matter of humans and animals

If E.Coli is found in a water supply along with high nitrate and chloride levels, it usually indicates that waste has contaminated the supply from a septic system or sewage dumping, and has entered by way of runoff, a fractured well casing, or broken lines. If coliform bacteria is present, it is an indication that disease-causing bacteria may also be present.

Non-pathogenic bacteria found in water, is iron bacteria. Iron bacteria in water can be readily identified by the red, feathery floc which forms overnight at the bottom of a sample bottle containing iron and iron bacteria.

There are several options for private water supply disinfection. These include continuous chlorination, shock chlorination, ultra-violet radiation (UV), and boiling (distillation). Each has advantages and limitations, but they are all intended for use on clean, clear water.

Depending on existing water conditions, pretreatment may be necessary to eliminate sediment or certain elements such as hardness, iron and manganese before any disinfection process can be effective.

It uses natural radiation to deactivate bacteria's ability to reproduce and cause illness. UV water treatment devices can be used for well water and surface water disinfection.

Advantages of UV disinfection include, non toxic byproducts, no need to add hazardous chemicals, requires minimal space and needs very little maintenance. UV systems are produced in many sizes to accommodate any household flow rate requirements. UV treatment compares favorably with other water disinfection systems in terms of cost, labor and the need for technically trained personnel for operation: deep tube wells fitted with hand pumps, while perhaps the simplest to operate, require expensive drilling rigs, are immobile sources, and often produce hard water that is found distasteful.

UV disinfection is most effective for treating a high clarity purified reverse osmosis distilled water. Suspended particles are a problem because microorganisms buried within particles are shielded from the UV light and pass through the unit unaffected. However, UV systems can be coupled with a pre-filter to remove those larger organisms that would otherwise pass through the UV system unaffected. The pre-filter also clarifies the water to improve light transmittance and therefore UV dose throughout the entire water column.

Distillation (Boiling) is a process of heating the water until it turns to steam, then cooling the steam so it returns back to the liquid state. During this process, living organisms are destroyed, making the water free from bacteria. The limitations of distillation is the amount of water it can produced in given period of time and the energy that it takes to make that amount of water.

 Importance

Distillation units are usually installed as pointof-use (POU) systems. They are generally placed at the kitchen faucet and used to purify water intended for (drinking and cooking purposes only. Stills vary in size, depending on the amount of purified water they produce The production rate varies from 3 to 11 gallons per day.

Ultrafiltration(UF) water filter systems make use of a hollow fiber membrane to complete or significantly reduce bacteria. These under sink drinking water systems are an ideal low cost alternative to reverse osmosis technology. With no water storage tank it removes an additional source for bacteria drinking water contamination

Ultrafiltration systems eliminate the need for clarifiers and multimedia filters for waste streams to meet critical discharge criteria or to be further processed by wastewater recovery systems for water recovery. Efficient ultrafiltration systems utilize membranes which can be submerged, back-flushable, air scoured, spiral wound UF/MF membrane that offers superior performance for the clarification of wastewater and process water.

Dialysis and other blood treatments Concentration of milk before making cheese Downstream processing (e.g., concentration) of biotechnology-derived proteins (e.g., therapeutic antibodies) Desalting and solvent-exchange of proteins (via diafiltration) Fractionation of proteins Clarification of fruit juice Recovery of vaccines and antibiotics from fermentation broth Laboratory grade water purification

Shock chlorination is a onetime treatment option designed to kill bacteria in the well itself. In some cases, this method is a very temporary solution. In order to ensure the effectiveness of shocking the well with the correct amount of full strength chlorine, proper calculations must be made to accommodate the well depth, static water level, volume, and water pH. Failure to do so could lead to inadequate disinfection.

Reduced well yield Restricted water flow in distribution lines Staining of plumbing fixtures and laundry Plugging of water treatment equipment "Rotten egg odour. Increased corrosion of the metal parts of the well and distribution system