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Water Treatment Issues:

Acid Water

Algae, cyanotoxins

Alkalinity

Alum (Aluminum Sulfate)

Aluminum

Ammonia

Arsenic

Asbestos

Bacteria

Barium

Benzene

Bicarbonate Alkalinity

Boron (Borate, Boric Acid)

Brackish Water

Bromine

Bromate

Cadmium

Calcium

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Tetrachloride

Chloramines

Chloride

Chlorine

Chromium

Color

Copper

Corrosion

Cryptosporidium

Cyanide

Dichloroethylene

Endocrine Disruptors

Fluoride

Giardia Lambia

Hardness

Heterotrophic Bacteria (HPC)

Hydrogen Sulfide

Iodine

Iron

Iron Bacteria

Lead

Magnesium

Manganese

Mercury

Methane

MTBE

Napthalene

Nickel

Nitrates and Nitrites

NMDA (N-Nitrosodimethylanime)

Norovirus

Odor

Organics

Perchloroethylene (PCE)

Perchlorate

Pesticides

pH

Pharmaceuticals

Radon

Radium

Selenium

Silica

Silver

Strontium

Sulfate

TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)

Trichlorethylene (TCE)

Tritium

Uranium

Vanadium

Vinyl Chloride

VOC


Cryptosporidium

Cryptosporidium refers to a group of microorganisms of a variety of species which cause a human disease called cryptosporidiosis. Cryptosporidium parvum, often called "Crypto," is the most common.

Cryptosporidium is a single-celled protozoan and parasite that lives in human or animal intestines. It is excreted in feces in the form of a dormant but hardy, thick-walled oocyst (“O-o-sist”), or fertilized egg. When ingested, it emerges from the oocyst and infects the intestine lining. Size of the Oocyst is 3 to 5 microns in diameter.

Although it is not eliminated by typical disinfectant chemicals (such as chlorine bleach), it is killed at temperatures above 160°F (71°C) or by desiccation (extreme drying).

Crypto is found in every region of the planet in soil, food, and water.

It was rare until the 1980s. The largest outbreak of the ailment was in 1993 in Milwaukee, where 400,000 became ill and as many as 100 died.

According to Water Technology Magazine:

It is regulated by the EPA with a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in drinking water of zero.

Treatment: Crypto can be reduced or removed from water by carbon adsorption, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration--by any filtration of absolute 1 micron rating. It is also controlled by ozonation and distillation. Chlorination is not a recommended treatment.

NSF/ANSI has treatment standards under Standards 53 (Drinking Water Treatment Units), 55 (Ultraviolet), and 58 (Reverse Osmosis). In many situations, ultraviolet has become the preferred treatment.

Sources: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Water Quality Association, NSF International, US Department of Agriculture. Water Technology Magazine,Volume 31, Issue 3 - March 2008