Doctor, can boiling the water make such water safe?
I have heard that boiling the water makes it cleaner.” “Yes boiling the water does make it free of infective micro-organisms, because they get killed by boiling, but when the water is contaminated with a chemical substance, it gives no protection whatsoever. On the contrary, it concentrates the nitrates, which can get concentrated upto 3 times on boiling the water! Older children are unaffected, probably because they can tolerate the amount of nitrate likely to be present in their normal fluid intake. It does appear that poisoning in these circumstances is not dependent only upon the amount of nitrate ingested It has been suggested that poisoning by nitrate will only occur in those whose gastric juice exceeds pH 4.0 and when nitrate-reducing bacteria are present in the upper digestive tract.” “Doctor, this is a most extraordinary fact that you have told me. Can you tell me what is the concentration of nitrites in such contaminated water coming from wells?” “The contaminated water, usua
