How Plumbing Prevents Waterborne Illness
Our plumbing system not only gives us fresh water and removes used water from our house, but plumbing prevents waterborne illness. There are many different ways that your plumbing is set up to prevent them.
Germs in Pipes
To understand how plumbing prevents waterborne illness, we have to do a quick science lesson on germs and bacteria. Germs and bacteria love water, especially standing or stagnant water. Biofilm is a germ neighborhood, there are fungi, bacteria, and germs all in one area. Biofilm is also sticky and can stick to surfaces, including your pipes.
Waterborne Illness’ Impact
The Centers for Disease Control estimates about 7,00 deaths as well as 7 million illnesses from waterborne diseases occur every year in the US. This mainly affects the elderly, young, and immunocompromised people.
How Plumbing Affects Waterborne Illnesses
Our entire plumbing system from water treatment to delivery to your home, makes the water much safer than before that was standard. Water utility companies are required to routinely test our water supply for any foreign substances that should not be there. This is one of the main ways modern plumbing prevents waterborne illness.
If you keep up with regular inspections and maintenance of your plumbing system you will be able to catch problems before they start. Sometimes these issues can reduce the quality of standing water.
Disposal of Waste Water
Our plumbing system also has a way of handling wastewater, ensuring that these two do not cross-contaminate. This is plumbing’s best way to prevent waterborne illness. When there is an adequate drainage system, it eliminates standing water. Bacteria, viruses and all sorts of germs love standing water. As drains are typically used as our faucets are used, there is no need to worry about standing water.
If you have fixtures that are not used often or a second home that isn’t used much; make sure to flush your pipes out for about 5 minutes before you use the water. This helps make sure any of those waterborne illnesses are gone.
How Modern Plumbing Prevents Waterborne Illness
So how does modern plumbing prevent waterborne illness? There are many key things in our plumbing system that you may not even know about.
One of the most important devices in keeping your water healthy and safe is a backflow preventer. This device prevents the backflow of wastewater, this ensures that water will flow in one direction only. Which means, wastewater will not be flowing back into drinking water.
Plumbing systems, as we mentioned, are designed to keep clean and unsanitary water separate. The water you use for cooking, drinking, and bathing has no connection with water that is drained out of your home from toilets, sink drains, and your bath or shower. Our modern drainage system is extremely effective at making sure the waste doesn’t come into contact with anything else. The plumbing industry is constantly updating materials used in piping to withstand the test of time and prevent leaks.
An Extra Layer of Protection
Want an extra layer of protection? Use a water filter! Water filtration can happen at the tap or a whole home system. These will help filter out any other contaminants or impurities you may have in your water. A whole-home system can ensure that every bit of water that passes through your faucets is safe to drink. They do require a bit of maintenance and upkeep.
It may be a good idea to go ahead and get a filtration system that also handles hard water deposits. Hard water can change the taste of your water, and can even affect your health.
Final Thoughts
Waterborne illness can cause serious health issues. However, modern plumbing prevents waterborne illnesses. They can still occur, so we recommend a few different things. Test your water if there is a concern, flush your pipes if they haven’t been used in a while and routinely inspect your home for any sort of leak.
Call 1-Tom-Plumber
Don’t hesitate to contact us here or call us at 1-Tom-Plumber (1-866-758-6237) if you need help with any plumbing, drain cleaning, water damage, or excavation services. 1-Tom-Plumber’s certified team of plumbers and drain technicians respond immediately to any emergency plumbing, drain cleaning, or water damage problem. We also handle the excavation of underground water lines and sewer main lines. Our immediate-response team is available every day and night of the year, even on holidays.
