Causes of waterborne disease outbreaks

There are a lot of possible causes for an outbreak of waterborne disease. The use of untreated spring water and surface water, and inadequately or interrupted disinfection of surface water, spring water and well water may all be responsible. These are all causes associated with the source of water but other problems can arise at points in the system after the source. For example, cross-connections of pipework, contamination of water in the household, contamination during the construction of water source protection, contamination of storage facilities including private storage tanks are all contributors. Consumption of water that was not intended for drinking, contaminated bottled water and ingestion of water while swimming are also possible causes.