Various wastewater microorganism species have an adverse impact on human health. This article analyses what health risks we are exposed to, from some wastewater microorganism species.
Some illnesses from wastewater-related sources are relatively common. Gastroenteritis can result from a variety of wastewater microorganism; other important wastewater-related diseases include hepatitis A, typhoid, polio, cholera and dysentery. Outbreaks of these diseases can occur as a result of, drinking water from wells polluted by a combination of different wastewater microorganism species, eating contaminated fish, or indulging in recreational activities in polluted water bodies containing water borne pathogen. Animals and insects that come in contact with wastewater can spread some illnesses as well.
Even municipal drinking water sources are not completely immune to health risks from wastewater pathogens. Drinking water treatment efforts can become overwhelmed when water resources are heavily polluted by wastewater microorganism species.
Pathogenic viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminthes and other wastewater microorganism species, may be present in raw municipal wastewater and will survive in the environment longer periods. Sewage pathogens will be present in wastewater at much lower levels than the coliform group of bacteria, which are much easier to identify and enumerate (as No. of Total Coliforms / 100ml). Escherichia Coli are the most widely adopted indicator of fecal pollution and they can also be isolated and identified fairly simply, with their numbers usually being given in the form of fecal Coliforms (FC)/100 ml of wastewater.
There are various kinds of enteric microorganisms present in human excreta and animal manure; some of these are pathogens and some are non-pathogens. Microorganisms in wastewater can be classified into such major groups as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and helminthes. Some of the important enteric pathogens commonly found in human excreta and wastewater, diseases they cause, modes of transmission, and geographical distribution are shown below:
Pathogen: Vibrio Cholera; Disease: Cholera; Transmission: Person to person;
Pathogen: Salmonella Typhi; Disease: Typhoid fever; Transmission: Person (or animals) to person;
Pathogen: Other types of Salmonellae; Disease: Various enteric fevers (often called paratyphoid), gastroenteritis, septicemia, (generalized infection in which organisms multiply in the blood stream; Transmission: Person (or animals) to person;
Pathogen: Shigella Dysenteriae; Disease: Bacterial Dysentery; Transmission: Person to person
Pathogen: Escheiria Coli; Disease: Diarrhea; Transmission: Person to person
Pathogen: Poliovirus; Disease: Poliomycetes; Transmission: Person to person
Pathogen: Coxsackievirus; Disease: Various cases including respiratory disease, fevers, rashes, paralysis, aseptic meningitis, myocarditis; Transmission: Person to person
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