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How to clean your drinking water during a cholera outbreak
From boiling to filtering and bleaching – here's how to keep your drinking water clean during South Africa's cholera outbreak.
Photo: iStock
Amid the cholera outbreak, the Gauteng Provincial government is urging citizens to take necessary precautions to ensure the water they use is safe.
It’s also vital for treated water to be stored in a clean and covered container. Meanwhile, also observe proper hand hygiene and food safety practices.
Clean water during cholera
It’s important to ensure the water we use comes from a safe source, but the various stakeholders at play have shown that clean water is not always a given for South Africans.
This brings us to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) four-step water treatment plan.
How to clean drinking water
The CDC’s plan involves treating water with a chlorine product, boiling it, treating it with bleach, or filtering it.
Boiling
While boiling is not a common outbreak response strategy, it is the least energy-intensive and easiest method.
The water must reach a rolling (bubbling) boil for at least one minute to kill harmful bacteria.
After boiling, it’s crucial to store water correctly to prevent re-contamination. Always store water in a clean, covered container.
Filtering
When using a filtering device, ensure it has a pore size of 0.3 microns or less.
This is because particle sizes larger than 0.3 microns tend to move in more predictable straight lines and respond effectively to filtration.
As an additional step, filtered water should also be treated with chlorine, chlorine dioxide, or iodine. Always follow the label instructions.
Bleach
When using bleach, add 2 drops of household bleach per litre of water. Wait a few hours (but preferably overnight) before drinking the water.
WARNING: While two drops are safe to consume according to the CDC, too much bleach in the water cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Ingestion of concentrated bleach products can cause more severe injuries, permanent damage to the gastrointestinal system, and even death.
Use the sun?
A study by Daniele Lantagne and Travis Yates titled ‘Household Water Treatment and Cholera Control‘ also mentions the use of solar disinfecting.
This method relies on heat and ultraviolet radiation from the sun to eliminate bacteria and viruses from drinking water.
Users who partook in the study placed a clear container (such as a 1.5-litre plastic bottle) on their roof, in the sun, for six to 48 hours.
Hand hygiene and sanitation
It’s critical to wash your hands with soap and safe water regularly, particularly before and after handling food, after using the toilet, and after tending to a sick person.
If soap and water are not readily available, an alcohol-based hand rub with at least 60% alcohol can be used.
And always wash hands with soap and safe water after using the toilet.
Other hygiene practices recommended by the CDC include keeping bathing and washing clothes or diapers a safe distance from drinking water sources.
Also remember to properly clean and disinfect toilets and surfaces that have come into contact with fecal matter.
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