How Borehole Water Can Be Detrimental To Your Health

About 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, while the remaining 30 percent is the landmass. 

That is to tell you the landmass is surrounded by water.

Water is a universal solvent that can dissolve virtually everything. There are various water sources such as sea, ocean, lake, stream, spring, river, pond, rainfall, borehole, estuarine, well, underground water, aquifers.

Water is essential for human survival because we need water for everything. 

It is used for the following; washing, cooking, bathing, building, drinking, electricity generation like that of the kanji dam, irrigation, farming, etc. water can also serve as habitat for some animals like Hippopotamus, shark, whale, sea turtle, crocodile, sea lion, etc.

The major water source in the urban areas is borehole water because most people regard it as the purest and the best for drinking and doing other house chores.

It is pertinent you understand that borehole water can be detrimental to humans based on the following; the depth of the water, the location of the sumo, the nature of the reservoir tank, etc.

Talking about the location of the sumo, most people don’t take cognizance of where they site the borehole. Before you commence on the project, you need to check if the soak away pit is very close to the location and if your answer is yes, then it’s a no to that project.

You are probably not aware that the borehole should be situated farther away from the soakaway. The reason is that there is every tendency that the feces from the soakaway might find its way into the borehole as a result of slippage, and it would be challenging for you to find out except the water undergoes an analysis.

If you are not away, the human feces contain bacteria called E.coli which could cause great harm to humans and animals. 

If you have done poultry farming by chance, you will understand that chickens, especially brooders and young chicks, always have their water trough elevated to prevent them from messing it up with their droppings. The main reason for this is that when the water gets in contact with their dropping and peradventure, the chicks ingest the water, they will definitely fall ill. Remember that whatever that can cause any harm to animals also tends to affect humans because we are higher animals

E.coli .is a bacterium that lives in the digestive tracts of humans and animals. There are many types of E.coli. Though some are harmless, some can cause bloody diarrhea, severe anemia, and kidney failure, resulting in death. Some of them can equally cause urinary tract infections.

What causes E.coli Intestinal infection?

You can contact E.coli infection by getting in contact with the feces or stool of humans and animals, which can happen when you drink water or eat food that feces have contaminated. Human or animal feces infected with E.coli sometimes get into lakes, pools, and water supplies. People can get infected when a contaminated city or town water supply has not been properly treated with chlorine or when people accidentally swallow contaminated water while swimming in a lake or pool.

There are other ways E.coli can infect us, such as taking raw milk or dairy products, especially when they are not pasteurized, and that is why you must always check out the labels to ensure it is written pasteurized. It can also it contacted through raw fruits and vegetables washed with or immersed in contaminated water.

These symptoms would help you know if you are infected with E.coli:

1.      Bloody diarrhea

2.      Stomach cramps

3.      Nausea and vomiting

4.      Pale skin

5.      Passing out only a small amount of urine. Etc

Prevention of E.coli

1.      wash your hands with hot soapy water, especially after touching raw meat

2.      use only pasteurized milk and dairy products

3.      use only treated or chlorinated water

4.      ensure you wash your hands after visiting the toilet or change diapers

5.      Be mindful of where you buy fruits and vegetables and ensure you wash them thoroughly well before consumption

6.      Ensure you cook your meat at a high temperature before consumption.

7.      Ensure your borehole is sited far away from septic tanks and soak away

For the treatment of E.coli infection, most of often, it disappears on its own, but you can equally play a role by consuming a lot of water to keep your system rehydrated. You can treat yourself with antibiotics, but it is very pertinent you visit the hospital to ascertain the exact drug to use.

On the issue of borehole cover, ensure that your borehole is properly elevated and sealed without any opening. Most times, some rodents usually visit such areas, dig a hole, and in the process of doing that, they fall inside the borehole openings, drown and decay without you knowing.

A situation like this happened in my area where the properly sealed borehole had holes in it, and we never knew a rat got into it, drowned, and decayed. We were still using the water as usual. After a while, people started complaining of a foul odor each time they are bathing or cooking with the water. The complaint got too much until someone got close to the borehole and discovered a hole, lo and behold; the stinking odor was coming out from there. We had to stop the usage until we treated it with chlorine. Your borehole needs to be sealed like the one below.

It might interest you to know that some bacteria survive heating in an autoclave, which means ordinary boiling to 100 degrees Celsius wouldn’t destroy them.