Water

October 29, 2006

Here's some of what I found to expand on Dr. Bhate's water purity post.

GB

Preventing Waterborne Disease

Drinking water stored in copper and brass containers will destroy

harmful bacteria within a 48-hour period, according to recent studies.

This is important news for more than a billion people worldwide who

lack access to safe drinking water.

Click here for a high-resolution version of this picture.

Safe drinking water is something most Americans take for granted. But

in other parts of the world, polluted water contributes to untold

numbers of fatalities, including the death of some 15 million children

a year, according to a recent report in The New York Times.

There may be a simple solution to this monumental problem, however:

using unlined brass or copper containers, instead of plastic or clay

vessels, to store water. English microbiologist Rob Reed recently set

out to learn whether folk traditions of using brass vessels to ward

off sickness really held water.

While researching sunlight's antibacterial effects on water, Reed

observed villagers in India storing water in brass vessels. When he

asked them why they used brass, the villagers said it protected them

against waterborne illnesses such as diarrhea and dysentery.

Back in England, Professor Reed tested their theory under laboratory

conditions by introducing E.coli bacteria to water in brass pitchers.

Within 48 hours, the amount of living bacteria in the water had been

reduced to undetectable levels.

According to Reed, the copper and brass containers release into the

water minute amounts of natural copper, which destroys the bacteria by

interfering with its cell membranes and enzymes. Humans are not at

risk because the amount of these particles in the water is far below

our safety threshold, he said.

Reed's findings were recently published in Nature magazine.

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