What are the health risks of swimming in polluted water?
A major part of water pollution is caused by potential health-threatening micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses. There are three main sources of contamination:1. HUMANS: Someone somewhere is always carrying pathogens (very small disease-carrying organisms) in his or her body, whether they make the person ill or not. Human pathogens get into the waste water via toilets.2. ANIMALS: All animals carry a quantity of micro-organisms in their digestive system that are potentially threatening for humans. Dog droppings, for example, can get into the waste water network when pavements and streets are flushed after heavy rainfall. Manure from pigs and cows is spread on the land as fertiliser. After heavy rainfall some of this can be washed off into nearby streams or rivers and arrive at the bathing area without passing through a waste water treatment plant.3. INDUSTRY: Particularly the agro-food industry such as slaughter houses and meat processing factories, tanneries, milk processing etc
