The water we drink daily is a form of energy needed to survive. Water is the basis of all LIVING FORMS. That’s why scientists are searching for water content in planets to see if they are habitable. But what about the water we drink daily? Do you think that safe drinking water is available across the globe?  There are underdeveloped places, facing scarcity of water, and developed ones yet facing limited water supply.

Let us dig more into a recent study on drinking water quality.

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Before going into the study on drinking water, let us see what Toxicological assessment is.

Toxicology assessment is the laboratory analysis of toxic components to evaluate the effect of chemicals on the biological functions of living beings. But it’s done in animals with ethical regulations. For example fish, animal embryos, and ovary cells.

It’s possible to do a toxicology assessment for any kind of sample that is directly or indirectly consumed by humans. And here we are looking into the water. It could be Potable water/Safe drinking water/conventional water. The difference between each of these terms actually makes them peculiar and more interesting.

Potable water is GOOD for human USE, especially for drinking and food preparation. The term “potable” comes from Latin which means to drink.

Safe drinking water, when consumed for a long period does not cause any significant risk to health. Even though we call it safe drinking or pure water, there’s a negligible amount of minerals and nutrients even some impurities.

Conventional drinking water is basically collected from surface sources and treated according to the regulations to meet the requirement for safe drinking water.

Okay, it’s time to check another new term, DBPs, Disinfection by-products.

What are DBPs?

DBPs are the products formed due to the reaction between disinfection agents and water. There are many regulated and unregulated disinfection byproducts along with some unidentified and unclassified DBPs.

What’s the problem with DBPs?

DBPs are a threat to human life. They cause multiple endpoints such as mortality, abnormalities, and severe diseases. Trihalomethanes or THMs is an example and DBPs are in NITROSAMINES, ALDEHYDES, and KETONES.

Coming back to the study published in the latest edition of Nature sustainability journal, titled, Toxicological assessment of potable reuse and conventional drinking waters. To read the article, please click here

It’s an interesting one that compares the effect of DBPs in both potable water and conventional water using the technique of Chinese hamster ovary cell cytotoxicity analysis. We will be discussing more of such methods in our future videos, for now, let’s see the details of this study.

This study revealed the cytotoxicity of the hamster ovary cell which is contributed by both DBPs and other contaminants. A percentage of 16 were contributed from unregulated DBPs while the regulated DBPs are only 0.2%. But the frightening result was of the uncategorized DBPS and other anthropogenic contaminants with the highest of 83%.

Now, it’s time to discuss, whether it is safe to reuse wastewater

From the results of their study, it’s somewhat clear that there is no significant harm in using treated wastewater for drinking purposes. Because the wastewater is treated in such a way that it eliminates all the potential harms that cause a health problem. The regulated DBPs are not a threat, while the unregulated ones are only 0.2% of the possible threats. But uncategorized DBPs should be addressed in future research studies as they are 3 times more toxic. The water derived from wastewater with Reverse osmosis treatment was not more toxic than groundwater, and when it was without Reverse osmosis was less harmful than surface drinking water. In simple terms, the treated wastewater does not even require an extra treatment like Reverse Osmosis.

So, wastewater after the required treatment can be used as safe drinking water. It’s also an energy-efficient, and cost-effective alternative for cities where drinking water is an issue.

That’s it for today.

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