Eat shit and...

So there I was, sitting on the bus, coming into White Rock Centre when all of a sudden I see this big construction sign flashing the words:

"Boil water advisory in effect. Call..."

So I go home and check the news.  And sure enough, my city is under a boil water advisory.

We sometimes see news stories about E. coli outbreaks in certain foods and/or water supplies, but what exactly are E.coli?

Photo credit: http://www.ecoliblog.com/

Well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, E. coli (Escherichia coli) are a "large and diverse group of bacteria". Now contrary to popular belief, not all types of E. coli bacteria are harmful to humans. In fact, E. coli can be found in healthy humans and animals.

And according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), E. coli bacteria are used as "markers for water contamination." Apparently, its' presence in drinking water doesn't necessarily mean that it's harmful to humans, but it does indicate that the water is contaminated.

Don't worry. They think it's confusing too!

But whenever you hear about news stories regarding outbreaks of E. coli infections chances are, they're referring to a type of E. coli called: E. coli O157. 

Photo credit: Dennis Kunkel

This type of bacteria causes disease by producing a toxin called, Shiga toxin (STEC). And this is where things can get really shitty (both figuratively AND literally!). According to the CDC, STEC lives in the guts of animals such as cattle, sheep, deer and elk. And humans tend to get infected by ingesting (ugh!) tiny amounts of animal and/or human feces.

Photo credit: gamesprays.com

Yummy.

Now, unless you're into a certain type of...um..."fetish", the most common ways in which we ingest this crap (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!) is by eating contaminated food, drinking raw milk, contaminated water, and even unpasteurized apple cider. But what might surprise you is that we can also become infected with STEC by eating undercooked hamburgers and/or contaminated lettuce.

Photo credit: foodpoisonjournal.com

Now it's probably safe to say that most people know about the importance of frequent hand-washing and proper food preparation techniques (e.g., cooking meats to proper internal temperature) as ways to prevent getting a nasty case of the "runs" (or worse!).

But what about dealing with contaminated drinking water?

I was surprised to find out that the drinking water in my city isn't treated. In fact, according to Epcor (our local water utilities company), our drinking water comes directly from a groundwater source called the "Sunnyside Uplands aquifer."

Photo credit: Environment Canada

According to the encyclopedia of earth, an aquifer is comprised of layers of sand, porous and non-porous rock that's located underground. When water travels from higher to lower elevations, it moves through the soil until it reaches the area of maximum water saturation. Now contrary to popular belief, an aquifer is not an underground lake. The water is actually held between rock particles, and this water is known as, ground water.

Now there's talk amongst the locals about treating (chlorinating) our drinking water. Having grown-up in a large city that treats its drinking water, I just assumed that all one needed to do is dump as much chlorine (and any other disinfectant!) into the water supply and "Presto!", you have clean drinking water!

But after checking-out the website for the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency), it's not as simple as that. In fact, it's a very delicate balancing act that carries with it some possible health risks.

According to the EPA, certain types of microbial pathogens (e.g., Cryptosporidium) are highly resistant to traditional disinfection practices. And disinfectants can react with naturally-occurring materials in the water to create by-products that can be harmful to humans!

So much for my previous assumption!

Although I can't say that I'm crazy about playing "Russian Roulette" with my digestive system whenever I take a drink of water, this incident has taught me some pretty interesting facts about our water supply and the importance of never taking our clean drinking water for granted.

Photo credit: jacobonipools.com

Now pass me the bleach, will ya?