The Connection between Water Condition and Peoples Health

Water is essential to life

Water is essential to life and humans cannot live without it. Water aids human digestion, is used for cooking and washing, and it also serves marine life such as fish, which is a source of food for humans. Individuals can easily go for many days without eating, but they cannot survive without water. Drinking water is particularly important for human health because it helps in digestion. As a result, the quality of water consumed by humans is extremely important to their survival. The paper thoroughly examines the association between water quality and human health. The Relationship between Water Quality and the Health of Human Beings

Water-related diseases

According to a report released by UNICEF in the year 2008, water-related diseases account for the deaths of more than a third of children in the world (Zhang, 125). Further, more than 1.1 billion human beings are not accessible to quality water resources which endangers their life (Zhang, 125). While this report highlights the particular importance of driving clean and safe water, it seems that only people in developed countries emphasize this. In the developing and third world countries, however, access to water is by itself problematic, and thus, a lot of people end up consuming unboiled water (Zhang, 128). Quality water simply refers to the physical and the basic characteristic of water that make it appropriate for human life. It is thus evident that the condition of water determines the quality of life lived by a human being.

Poor Quality Water causes Water Borne Diseases

Untreated or unboiled water is unsuitable for human consumption because it contains impurities such as viruses and germs that are responsible for causing illnesses in the bodies of human beings. Amongst the diseases caused by drinking dirty water includes, diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, and typhoid. The diseases are responsible for the weakening of the body’s immune system and thus leading to the deterioration of human health and at times death (Zhang, 130). For example, cholera kills through the dehydration of the body of an individual and thus depriving the vital organs of water that is necessary for carrying out their functions. The disease is very lethal as it causes death within a very short span after contracting the same (Crittenden et al., 14). Diarrhea has the same effect only that its signs may take long before causing negative effects to an individual. Being a watery condition, diarrhea is transmitted to other people within a very short span, and it is thus recommended that individuals who contract the same should be placed in isolation. While noting the severity of these conditions posed by diarrhea and cholera which are all waterborne diseases, it is important to highlight some of the water sources that pose the greatest risk for contracting the condition (Crittenden et al., 23). For example, water gotten from the wells, rivers, ponds, and lakes are more likely to cause the conditions, and thus it is recommended that before use, the water must first be treated or boiled. One characteristic of these sources is that they are majorly found in the countryside and therefore accessible to most of the poor people (Crittenden et al., 31). It is thus for this reason that cholera and diarrhea are majorly associated with the poor because they tend to consume the water without treatment or boiling.

Poor Quality Water Causes Skin Conditions

Polluted water is also a great source of skin conditions. When a sewerage system is released to the waters, for example, it exposes the source to a lot of viruses and germs which are responsible for the itchy skin. The skin disease is usually contracted especially during bathing and it worsens with time if proper treatment action is not taken (Crittenden et al., 50). The signs of the skin diseases do not show up instantly and may take up several days or months. If treatment is not administered within time, the skin condition may turn cancerous and thereby pose risk of death. Dirty water can also cause a lot of harm to the body organs such as the kidneys, liver, bladder, and lung (Crittenden et al., 19). The failure of these organs is a great risk to the health of a human being as they require a lot of finances to treat. In fact, the only viable solution is always an operation. With the dumping of e-waste, industrial wastes, and other chemicals, the body of a human being is also placed under a health risk.

Benefits of Quality Water

While contaminated water is responsible for a lot of diseases and conditions facing human beings, healthy clean water has a lot of benefits. For example, the availability of the oxygen and hydrogen in water assists in fighting diseases (Smith & William, 40). Clean water assists in cleaning the body of toxins, especially in the kidneys, thus reducing any risk of getting kidney stones. While doctors recommend that every normal human being should consume at least two liters of water in a day, it is highly recommended that such water should be of good quality to ensure that it is free of germs and viruses (Smith & William, 44). Most people in the towns, in particular, consume very clean water as compared to their counterparts in the rural areas who pay very little attention to the same. Even if it is not about purchasing quality water, the people in rural areas can still boil the water as one of the ways of killing any impurities (Smith & William, 58). The use of clean water by the people means that the government will incur less money in the curing of water-borne diseases. For this reason, a lot of sensitization should be done through advertisements, radio, television, newspapers, and educational pamphlets (Smith & William, 61). The essence of such sensitization is to teach the people about safe hygiene practices and proper sanitation.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it is plausible to conclude that water is an essential commodity to the life of a human being. Water can also turn out to be the basis for misery, especially if consumed without treatment. High-quality water is responsible for good digestion, removal of toxins from the body, and decreasing the risk of contracting kidney stones. On the other hand, untreated water may cause diseases such as cholera and diarrhea and skin conditions such as cancer. The condition of water used by human beings thus determines whether a positive or a negative impact will result in the health of human beings.

Work Cited

Crittenden, John Charles, et al. Principles of Water Treatment. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated,

2012.

Smith, V. Kerry, and William H. Desvousges. Measuring water quality benefits. Vol. 3. Springer

Science & Business Media, 2012.

Zhang, Jing. “The impact of water quality on health: Evidence from the drinking water

infrastructure program in rural China.” Journal of health economics 31.1 (2012): 122-134.