Arsenicosis is a chronic illness resulting from drinking water with high levels of
arsenic over a long period of time (such as from 5 to 20 years). It is also known as arsenic poisoning. The
WHO recommends a limit of 0.01 mg/l of arsenic in drinking water.
It results in various health effects including skin problems, skin cancer, cancers of the bladder, kidney and lung, and diseases of the blood vessels of the legs and feet, and possibly also diabetes, high blood pressure and reproductive disorders.
Prevention
Clean water is a pre-requisite for reducing the spread of water-borne diseases. It is well recognised that the prevalence of water-borne diseases can be greatly reduced by provision of clean drinking water and safe disposal of faeces.
Water is disinfected to kill any pathogens that may be present in the water supply and to prevent them from growing again in the distribution systems.
Disinfection is then used to prevent the growth of pathogenic organisms and to protect public health and the choice of the disinfect depends upon the individual water quality and water supply system.
Without disinfection, the risk from waterborne disease is increased.
The two most common methods to kill microorganisms in the water supply are: oxidation with chemicals such as chlorine,
chlorine dioxide or
ozone, and irradiation with
Ultra-Violet (UV) radiation.
