Environmental Footprint Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Environmental Footprint - Essay Example However, the presence of either infection threatened the existence of the other one, such that the presence of coliforms seemed to reduce high standard plate counts and vice versa. Findings showed major causes for this contamination to be the seepage of surface-water through weakened walls of private wells, aquifer pollution during cold weathers and the poor controls over microbial redevelopment through chlorination during summers. We recommend that there must be close surveillance and periodic or seasonal testing of water supplies, especially through private routes. Additionally, masses must be educated regarding potential risks of infections and precautionary measures that must be taken in order to mitigate possibilities of drinking water contamination. Introduction Drinking water is said to be contaminated if it exhibits concentration of 4 coliforms per 100 ml of water. Although, former researches have revealed that 90% of rural drinking water supplies are contaminated with colifo rms, much work needs to done in this area to resolve conclusions that are backed up by strong evidences (Stukel et al., pp. 571). Contamination of drinking water through coliform, Staphylococcus aureus and standard plate count bacteria has been a prime concern of regulatory authorities and public at large in recent years due to significant number of casualties in this regard. As a result, various studies have been conducted to address these concerns, including a popular experimentation study by Sandhu, whereby correlation of coliform bacteria with characteristics of supply source and pH strengths of water was tested (Sandhu et al., pp. 774). Another study was conducted by Whitsell and Hutchison, indicating most significant dangers linked with coliform-containing contaminated water supply to households (Whitsell & Hutchison, pp. 777). In a more recent research, the relationship between coliform contamination and rainfall was studied through experimentation, targeting drinking water s ystems of smaller communities (Stukel et al., pp. 571). Much experimentation has been done in this area in the past; however, most of them focused on municipal supplies of drinking water to address a greater risk since the majority of population use public water supply rather than private. Surprisingly, of the reported contamination cases and waterborne diseases to date, 69% of affected households were using private supplies (Lamka et al., pp. 734). This study is intended to highlight frequency and magnitude of contamination of drinking water raised from private wells and springs that reaches millions of households. It will also be aimed at verifying our initial thesis that drinking water contamination mainly stems from usage of untreated groundwater and poorly maintained private wells. The details of experimentation have been discussed in areas to follow. Materials and Methods Our experimentation was outdoors-based and the most difficult task was to locate an area that will be most favorable for our experimentation and capable of generating appropriate results on a timely basis. The land selected for our experiment contained rich and deep soils with weathered basalt bedrock lying beneath it. A sample of 78 households was selected neighboring around this study area. Majority of these