Water for Health Blog

Are you drinking unfiltered tap water? You should know that cryptosporidium in drinking water is a risk, even in the public water supply. 

Cryptosporidium in drinking water survives chlorine, which is a poison designed to kill living organisms like bacteria and virus. This is how the municipalities keep us safe from water borne disease outbreaks. It’s a necessary evil and it’s effective, but only to a point.

Here is a recent article about cryptosporidium in drinking water: "Are There Bugs In Your Drinking Water?" It is found on the water filtration blog. The specific article about cryptosporidium in drinking water is reproduced here in part:

Have you ever stopped to think about chlorine resistant organisms; Cysts, parasites… microscopic bugs?

Two of the most common water born parasites are Cryptosporidium and Giardia. These are small protozoa which create a hard shell around themselves, which makes them resistant to chlorine. They come from animal feces in surface water and are much more common than we realize.

These cysts are most dangerous to young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. If infected by these parasites you typically suffer flu like or food poisoning symptoms. Symptoms usually last for 3 or 4 days, with some cases lasting weeks or months. The Center For Disease Control estimates that 50% of the time people are diagnosed with food poisoning or the flu, they have actually been infected with these chlorine resistant bugs found in drinking water.

Here is the real story; EPA officials estimate 850 billion gallons of storm water mixed with raw sewage pour into U.S. waters every year. An additional 3 billion to 10 billion gallons of raw sewage spills accidentally every year from systems designed to carry only sewage. These spills are caused by improper connections, clogs caused by debris, construction accidents and cracks in aging pipes.

Sewage commonly gets into drinking water supplies. Run off from fields and animal feed lots is where most water borne parasites originate. In 1993 more than 400,000 people got sick and more than 100 people died within a 4 week period after cryptosporidium contaminated drinking water in Milwaukee WI.

An easy way to remove these parasites is with a sub-micron home drinking water filter. The parasites are large enough to catch because of the shell created to keep them alive, 3-5 microns in size. A quality water filtration system with an absolute micron rating of 1 micron or less is an easy, affordable solution. Drink parasite, cyst & bug free water with Aquasana Drinking Water Filters!