Sewage Contamination in Drinking Water: Impact on Human Health in Asian Metropolitan Cities

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Introduction
Fresh and safe water for consumption is the most challenging issue experienced in most
of the Asian metropolitan cities. Sanitation is important as it enables drinking water to be
essential for good health. To sustain life and avoid dehydration, the human body requires a
minimum intake of approximately three liters of water. The availability of constant drinking
water is a problem for inhabitants in the urban areas. Poor conditions of living and lack of
required city services such as safe sewerage and piped water has leads to serious health
conditions. This paper seeks to discuss how sewage contamination in drinking water is creating
water borne diseases impacting human health in metropolitan cities of Asian Subcontinent. The
paper will also discuss poor sanitation and ways to improve it. Waste management of sewage
waste will be discussed and how this management can be improved. Simple ways in which the
quality of water can be improved are outlined.
Sewage Contamination on Drinking Water
Sewage waste can contaminate water meant for drinking in various ways such as raw
sewage run over, application of sludge on land, sewer lines that leak, septic tanks and wastewater
that is not fully treated. Sewage matter is a web complex mixture that can therefore carry many
types of disease causing germs. Bacteria, metals, nitrates, salts and trace qualities of toxic matter
are some of the contaminants that pose a threat to drinking water. Waterborne disease can be
caused by seepage overflow of sewers into drinking water through ingestion of microorganisms
(Ahmad, Khan,Khan, Ghazi and Ali, 2012 p. 484). Sanitary sewer systems that are in transport to
sewage plants for treatment can sometimes be mixed with overflow of raw sewage stormwater in
urban areas. Excess stormwater formed after the combination of the waste from the two sewage

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systems can causethe joint system to spill over(Gupta and Nair, 2011 p. 1638). In these
happenings, the excess untreated flow can then be channeled into waterways hence resulting in
sewage contamination on water. A separate storm sewer system always collects urban runoff and
directly discharged into waterways. Although combined systems are cheaper to construct, the
stake of causing health harm is high. Some systems are however created with water diversions
so as to take in the excess heavy flow. Poor management of sewage wastewater can result in the
contamination of drinking water that is meant to be used by millions of inhabitants of the Asian
metropolitan cities.
Sewer lines leaks that carry waste matter introduces untreated sewage matter to the
environment. The waste sewage matter may contain industrial waste chemicals. If the leaking
sewer lines are deeply running in the underground, the water sourced from underground for
consumption can then be easily contaminated(Brindha, Pavelic and Sotoukee, 2019 p.24).
Chlorides, organics, trace metals, and microorganisms can be introduced to the water which can
lead to diseases and foul odors on consumption. The sewer leaks can be caused by soil
slippage,root invasion, seismic activity and loss of foundation after washing out(Khan and
Ahmad, 2012 p.20). Exclusion of hazardous waste, regular inspection of sewer lines and modern
construction and maintenance can be a few necessary preventive measures for groundwater
protection from sewer leaks.
Septic tanks are normally enclosed and mainly used for storage and processing of sewage
if sewer systems do not exist(Morató,PiresCarneiro, and Ortiz, 2011 p.188). Septic tanks treat
sewer water by decomposing bacteria. The treated material from septic tanks is often referred to
as sludge. If leach fields containing septic tanks are poorly placed then water without the

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required treatment may run into water sources. Systems that are poorly constructed may allow
untreated water to run into water meant for consumption. Failure of these systems can also result
in clogging of waste, which in turn overruns to surface water and land (Saleemi and Zafar, 2012
p.9). Tanks that are placed with high density can increase the concentration of waste water. The
wastewater may come up to land surface and water surface.
Sludge is mainly made up of biological, chemical and physical treatment of industrial and
municipal waste residues. The sludge usually consists of inorganic matter, nitrogen, bacteria, and
heavy metals. Partially treated wastewater can be used for fertilization,, irrigation, and water
supply discharge as way to discharge into waterways directly(Al-Bahry, Mahmoud, Al-
Musharafi, Al-Gharaibi,, Al-Harthy and Al-Zadjali, 2014, pp 35). However, sufficient time must
be given to the processing and turnover of this sludge to bring down contaminant levels before
introducing wastewater to a water system. There should be water movement and a lot of
vegetation to enhance wastewater degradation. The degradation process can slow down if there is
a lack of appropriate microbial activity.
Water borne diseases caused by drinking contaminated water
Health harm is high when drinking water is mixed with raw sewage waste. Waterborne
diseases are caused by pathogenic micro-organisms transmitted through water. Taking in
contaminated water leads to the transmission of water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery,
typhoid, hepatitis B and cholera among other sicknesses(Batabyal, Mookerjee and Palit,
2012p.358). Microorganisms that cause water-borne conditions are mostly intestinal parasites
which invade the circulatory system or tissues in the human body through digestive tract walls.
Other various water-borne diseases are caused by viruses(Majumdar, Singh, Pujhari, Bhat,