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Drink to your health
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Water should be filtered, heated and chemically treated to purify it
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MOST OF us cannot afford to drink bottled water daily. So here are a few tips to purify your water year round:
Stick a filter to your tap. This will not only protect you from bacteria and viruses but it will also get rid of gross impurities that help bacteria dodge disinfectants like chlorine. Even a clean cloth will do. Ceramic "candles" filter out most harmful bacteria but they are not perfect and require frequent cleaning.
The next step should be to bring the filtered water to a boil and let it remain on heat for 5 to 10 minutes. This will kill all harmful bacteria and their spores, viruses, fungi, cysts of protozoa and eggs of helminths. Store water in the same container in which it has been boiled, preferably one with a lid, in order to reduce recontamination. Use the boiled water within 24 hours.
Thermal treatment with solar radiation can also be used to purify water. When exposed to sunlight for several hours, water reaches temperatures of 55 degrees Centigrade in transparent PET bottles (good quality clear plastic bottles), especially if the bottle is painted black on one side or is lying on a dark surface. This method uses both the UV radiation in sunlight as well as the thermal effects of sunlight to kill waterborne microbes. Six hours on the roof is enough for daily use.
Detoxification
Just because your drinking water reeks of chlorine does not mean it is safe. Chlorine kills harmful bacteria but, except in high doses, it has little effect on bacterial spores, helminthic eggs, protozoal cysts and hepatitis viruses. Bleaching powder is one of the cheapest sources of chlorine, but chlorine tablets are easier to handle. Just add one powdered chlorine (Halazone) tablet to 20 litres of filtered water. The water is safe to use after one hour. In an emergency, you can add a couple of drops of 2 per cent USP tincture iodine to a litre of water and drink it after 30 minutes. But do not make a daily habit of using iodine as it can affect thyroid function. Unhygienic storage and handling practices at home cause more instances of faecal contamination than sewage mixing with water in cracked pipes.
Containers with narrow openings for filling and dispensing devices such as spouts, taps and spigots, protect purified water during storage and household use. Do not use vessels that allow you to dip a glass into it.
You can never ensure the cleanliness of all the hands and dippers that reach into a vessel, so stop trying, and store water only in containers having taps, spouts or spigots.
RAJIV. M
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