How Often Is E. Coli in Water Supply?

Ever wonder how many E. Coli in water supply issues there are?

Just about every day I'm keeping my eyes on the news for reports of water contamination.

There usually seems to be a theme: "Boil water advisory." Why does that keep popping up?

Seriously, just go to your preferred search engine and check how many times in the last week a story about this subject is written by reporters all over the United States and all over the world.

If you take a closer look it's because of some sort of contamination problem due to broken pipes or water company failures.

I even remember a story recently that the company that's supposed to clean your water took a three day weekend holiday off and their system failed on Friday.

That meant three days of horrible contamination.

Oops! I even read stories where the boil water advisory lasts for a week, then they tell you it's safe, then they tell you to still boil your water.

They take all these tests and it can take days or weeks for results. I have no idea why but that's what I'm reading in these articles. 

The Trend Says There's More E. coli in Water Supply Than You Know

A closer look at the news reports almost always say E. coli is the reason why you need to boil your water. Here are a bunch of headlines from just one weekend:

• E. coli fouls water supply in Kent County; boil order hits 7 cities, towns
• Des Moines boil water order in effect through midweek
• E. coli in water supply adds to woes in flooded Lyons, Colo.
• Boil-water advisory issued for parts of Southwest King County
• DEQ issues water boil for Hitchcock after E. coli found
• Winnipeg's Boil-Water Advisory Isn’t Over Yet

E. coli bacteria is normally associated with sewage or animal waste. Is the infrastructure of our water treatment plants getting too old?

How are they missing this? What's the point of dumping chlorine in the water supply if it doesn't even kill off E. coli?

That's something you need to ask them if you get the chance. Symptoms for adults if infected include diarrhea, cramps, nausea, jaundice, headaches and fatigue.

Children, especially infants, can get very sick. Face it, this is not something you want for you or your family.

Natural Treatment For Infection Associated With E. coli

I've not personally used these remedies before but some people take herbs to treat infections like these and here is a short list:

• Calendula - From the daisy flower family
• Chamomile - Also from the daisy family and used for many different medicinal purposes
• Fennel - Flowering plant from the celery family
• Ginger - Flowering plant from the family Zingiberaceae
• Basil essential oil - Used for many medicinal purposes including gastrointestinal issues
• St. John's wort - An herb used for multiple medicinal purposes

Antibiotics are more and more becoming useless so you want to be careful about that. Antibiotics also wreak havoc on your gut.

Prevention in the first place is the key. I also wanted to point out that during these boil advisory warnings they also advise that you drink bottled water.

That's not necessarily a healthy choice either.

Recently it was found out bottled water contains over 24,000 chemicals. The BPA's alone are harmful to every man, woman, boy and girl. You don't even want your pets to drink bottled water.

A better solution for consumption and cooking during emergency times is hands down a gravity filtration system that certifies it eliminates E. coli.

For instance, the black Berkey elements have been tested to successfully removed Bacillus atrophaeus and Escherichia coli so you can be sure you're drinking pure and healthy H2O.

What do you think about all this water news that bombards us just about every day? Do you have an emergency plan in place if the water supply becomes compromised?