A water sample taken from the Mediterranean Sea as part of a scientific study about microplastics damaging marine ecosystems, near Villefranche-Sur-Mer, on the French Riviera, France, in 2018. The World Health Organization says there's not enough evidence to conclude that microplastics — which exist everywhere in the environment and show up in drinking water — pose any risk to human health, but it cautions that more research is needed to draw firm conclusions. In a new study, the WHO says that microplastics are "ubiquitous" with surface run-off and wastewater the largest sources of fresh-water contamination. However, despite widespread concern, "There is currently no evidence to suggest a human health risk from microplastics associated with biofilms in drinking-water," the study concludes, referring to microorganisms that attach to microplastics. Instead, WHO suggests that diseases associated with untreated or poorly treated drinking water should re...
Iron is one of the major secondary contaminant in both domestic and industrial water supply. Iron have caused water industries several billions of dollars . Iron is the second most abundant metal in the earth's crust behind Aluminum(8%), of which iron accounts for about 5%. Elemental iron is rarely found in nature, as the iron ions Fe2+ and Fe3+ readily combine with oxygen- and sulfur-containing compounds to form oxides, hydroxides, carbonates, and sulfides. As rain fall, rain water infiltrates the soil and underlying geologic formations and dissolves iron, causing it to seep into aquifers that serve as sources of groundwater for wells. In surface water, such as rivers and lakes, dissolved iron is hardly ever found, because it readily reacts with oxygen, forms insoluble compounds and sinks out into the bottom of the water body. Iron is seldom found at concentrations greater than 10 milligrams per liter (mg/L) or 10 parts per million. The iron that seep into the sources of g...