Purification of Drinking Water, Wastewater Treatment in Developing Countrie - Essay Example

Availability of clean drinking water is a major global concern with the situation in developing countries becoming worse due to the rapid population growth in these nations. Scarcity of water has serious socio-economic implications in developing countries with women and girls from poor families spending a majority of their time searching for water at the expense of economically rewarding activities and education (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2010). Poor quality drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene contribute to 4 billion cases of diarrhoea disease annually with more than 1.5 million people losing their lives, the majority being children under the age of five years (United Nations, 2005). These people are usually exposed to contaminated drinking water mainly from untreated wastewater that contains human and animal faeces and urine exposing them to pathogenic microorganisms.

Water Sources
Drinking water comes from both surface and groundwater with the natural water cycle maintaining the available water for mankind (Omran, 2011). The majority of people from developing countries get their water from springs, boreholes, sealed wells, hand-dug wells, streams, rivers, and lakes (Omran, 2011). Some of these sources are contaminated with waterborne diseases responsible for over 50% of hospitalization in these countries (Alward et al., 1994). Despite some of the sources like groundwater being clean and safe for drinking, improper use, ignorance and lack of adequate sanitation facilities like toilets make their drinking water contaminated during collection, transport, storage and drawing of water (Lindskog and Lindskog, 1988). This contributes significantly to developing countries disease burdens.

Purification of Drinking Water
The majority of people living in developing countries uses simple and rudimentary water treatment techniques to serve individual households and community needs despite the availability of superior conventional technologies. Conventional treatment technologies are too expensive and inappropriate for people living in very poor neighbourhoods due to limitations in infrastructure and skilled personnel. The simple and rudimentary water purification system is primarily aimed to remove the visible impurities such as floating particles, leaves, and twigs. The commonly used water purification systems include;

Simple Filtration
This is accomplished by using locally available filters, sieves, or pieces of cloth. The filters can be made of sandstones and plant materials and are purposefully made to clarify or remove visible contaminants of water.

Boiling
Boiling is the most commonly used and promoted household water treatment method around the world (Beddow, 2010). The water is boiled must reach a boiling temperature of 1000c. This process is effective in killing most pathogens that cause water-borne diseases. The disadvantages of boiling include the lack of residual antimicrobial properties in the water making the water easily re-contaminated if handled improperly. Boiling is widely accepted across all regions and when done properly offers many people access to safe drinking water free from diarrhoea causing organisms.

Waste Water Treatment
Wastewater treatment in developing countries depends on the level of infrastructural development and location. Only developed cities and towns have adequate facilities for effective treatment of wastewater with people in rural areas lacking any significant technology to treat their wastewater. Technological and financial limitations make most of the wastewater treatment plants centralized, which necessitates extensive and expensive networks of trunk sewers to transport the wastewater from the plants (Novitsky and Khamizov, n.d). The common technologies used to treat this wastewater are anaerobic and aerobic waste stabilization ponds. They are used because they are cheap and convenient to run and maintain (Novitsky and Khamizov, n.d). The wastewater stabilizing ponds are effective in treating domestic waste but cannot handle industrial wastes. The treated water is usually recycled through the natural ecosystems or used for agricultural purposes. Read More