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cryptosporidia
At Dryden Aqua, we are biologists and have approached the problem of treating drinking water supplies from a logical scientific approach. We are keenly aware of the biological problems associated with the treatment of water, since we are involved in the development of filtration systems for public water supplies.
One of the issues regarding water quality is the biology of the water. Chlorine is added to most public supplies, the reason for this is to disinfect the water of bacteria, viri and other organisms which can act as serious human pathogens.The problem is that this does not always work.
In the vast majority of cases the public supplies in the UK are safe to drink, but occasionally the systems fail. You only need to check out the reports from the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate . On numerous occasions there has been contamination of the supplies by cryptosporidians, giardia and other rather nasty organisms. The same situation occurs in many other countries, and is generally worse in countries where the climatic conditions are warmer that the UK.
Cryptosporidians form cysts which measure 5 microns in diameter. The cyst shell provides the sporidian with a high degree of protection. Chlorine, at levels normally used in drinking water supplies will not kill the organism. High levels of ozone or even ultraviolet disinfection systems can not destroy this organism. The problem is serious and the authorities really don't know the extent of crypto infection or how to deal with the issue. Consequently you don't hear a great deal about crypto except in cases where a large number of people are infected.
The only way to deal with crypto and giardia is to actively filter them from the water supplies. However the water authorities are nearly all using high rate sand filtration. Also the quality of sand does not come under the DWI (Drinking Water Inspectorate act), so low cost poor grade filter media could be used in our drinking water filtration systems. If you combine high rate filters and poor quality filter sand, then crypto and giardia will simply pass through the filter, the organisms can not be stopped. The only effective way to deal with this potentially serious health hazard is to treat your own water using our filter system or reverse osmosis unit. The ceramic and the reverse osmosis filter will remove all particles larger than 1 micron from your water, and this will remove the crypto.
Cryptosporidian infection will make you very ill with severe stomach cramps and dehydration. If you are fit and healthy, the condition will last for around 3 days. If you are elderly, very young or infirm the consequence of crypto infection can be fatal.
The cartridge filtration systems and reverse osmosis equipment supplied by Dryden Aqua provide you with an added level of security. The equipment is a low cost to pay for your personnel security, and the well being of your family.
