One of the standard methods of looking at water quality is to sample a stream.
However a very low, or zero, bacteria result doesn’t mean the location is a safe source.
Below are three reasons why a low bacteriological sample value may not be providing good information:
The typical stream sample is 1 Litre.
Even a small stream is likely to have a flow of up to 500litres/min, thats 720,000 litres per day.
That means you are sampling 0.00014% of that days flow, hardly representative!
Water Quality in a stream is not consistant, for example:
For accurate testing extensive protocols need to be performed, for example:
For a full range of protocols see this Tasmanian Goverment document Community Water Samples
Without the correct protocols, which may be difficult in many developing countries, the may be very large.
The above problems do not mean that water testing shouldn’t be carried out.
Water Tests are valuable for:
The best way to ensure safe drinking water is:
Disaster Aid Australia continue to install SkyHydrants, as they have proved highly effective at removing all bacteria from water.
This has reduced illness in serviced communities by more than 70%.
Want to find out more about SkyHydrants? Find our more about why Disaster Aid Australia…
During the review visit to Bhutan in early March Disaster Aid Australia CEO Brian was…
Phuentsholing Primary School Disaster Aid Australia CEO Brian Ashworth is currently in Bhutan reviewing the…
This week has been busy for shipping SkyHydrants overseas. Timor Leste DAA Chair, Peter Faulkner,…
A key component of Disaster Aid Australia's 'Safe Water for Every Child' program is working…
Between Christmas and New Year, Southern Thailand was hit by the worst storms in more…
This website uses cookies.