Waterborne Diseases and Contaminated Water-Soil Pathways

Waterborne diseases are a rising worldwide challenge that poses significantly adverse effects on the populations in countries with middle and low gross national income per capita, where there is limited access to safe potable water and ineffective sanitary systems. The effects of consuming contaminated water range from acute illness to fatalities. Interactions between soil and water facilitate the transmission of contaminants of chemical and biological nature, thus degrading the chemical and microbial quality of water. Processes of surface run-off, infiltration and percolation are responsible for the transmission of pollutants from soil to water and therefore provide pathways for the ingestion of contaminants including various pathogen types such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa, therefore giving rise to waterborne diseases. This chapter discusses the different types of contaminants present in aquatic and terrestrial environments, associated waterborne diseases, pathways of transmission of these contaminants and methods of detection of pathogens. It further discusses the different mitigation strategies that may be employed for the eradication of existing challenges and prevention of future potential challenges. The strategies include improved sanitation infrastructure and processes and intervention through policies. The chapter concludes by providing an overview of detection of pathogens, associated disease outbreaks in parts of South Africa and current and future research directions concerning the threat of waterborne diseases. Integrated management systems make it easier to control the quality of water and thus significantly reduce the viable aquatic pathogens and therefore the waterborne disease outbreaks.