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What is the most significant factor in safe drinking water? - Coggle…

- - - - Lead
        
        Lead is a post-transition metal element that can be found in water due to lead pipes and faucets due to acidic or alkaline water corroding the lead (US EPA, 2018). Lead is quite dangerous for human consumption, especially when dealing with chronic lead poisoning. It has been found that exposure to high levels of lead in children, such as in chronic lead poisoning, severely damages the brain and can lead to seizures and comas in children. It could also leave them with permanent intellectual disabilities and overall lower neurological function. Lead is usually found in water due to industrial activities and the improper disposal of materials containing lead.
      - Copper
        
        Copper is a transition metal that is very conductive and magnetic. Copper is often used for pipes over other metals due to its resistance to corrosion and rusting. Paired with the anti-microbial properties, it is one of the most popular piping materials that can stay in use for years on end. Overly corrosive liquids can eventually corrode the copper and leach it into the drinking water supply. Although 2-3 mg of copper a day is a healthy amount for humans, too much copper can eventually become dangerous for consumption.
    - - Atrazine
        
        Atrazine is a herbicide classified as a triazine chemical. Atrazine is used for eliminating weeds in agriculture in crops such as maize, pineapple and sugarcane. Atrazine contaminates drinking water sources as plants that use atrazine require the fresh water. This causes the pesticide to run off into drinking water sources, contaminating them. Atrazine is about as toxic as cyanide.
    - - Ammonia
        
        Ammonia is an inorganic compound commonly found in Australian water sources at uncontaminated levels of about 0.2 mg/L, although it can exceed 10 mg/L in areas contaminated with animal faeces (NHMRC, 2022). Ammonia is dangerous in drinking water sources such as reservoirs and rivers, as the ecology of those areas relies on stable, non-fluctuating ammonia levels that are low enough not to be toxic. High ammonia levels are usually a sign of domestic sewage waste and large amounts of livestock in the area, making a large portion of the water source unsafe for constant consumption. Ammonia has also been found to corrode copper pipes and fittings, leading to substantial infrastructure damage, leading to the Australian Guidelines restrict ammonia levels to less than 0.5mg/L. To fix the issue of ammonia in drinking water, the water is usually first chlorinated to rapidly react with the ammonia to neutralise the effects.
      - Cyanide
        
        Cyanide is a chemical that is toxic to humans even in small amounts. It has been commonly used as an incredibly fast-acting poison that causes rapid asphyxiation in humans if ingested in high enough amounts (CDC, 2024). Cyanides can be present in water for a wide variety of reasons such as being released by cyanobacteria and also industrial run off from sodium cyanide used to extract gold and silver from low quality ores. A variety of foods also contain high amounts of cyanide such as green almonds and untreated cassava. (NHMRC, 2022)
    - - Formaldehyde
        
        Formaldehyde is a chemical that is commonly used in the paper and textile industry. Formaldehyde is seen in humans to causes inflammation of the respiratory tract when inhaled and also skin irritation when touched. It is not often found in Australian drinking water but may be found in areas that have any paper and textile mills.
  - - - pH greatly affects the safety of water as it is the leading factor of heavy metal leaching due to corrosion. this allows many toxic chemicals to become mobile in the water, making it unsafe to drink due to elements such as Lead and Copper. Having pH that is too different from neutral (7) leads to lowered enzyme efficiency in living organisms until they can no longer function, causing total breakdown.
- - - - pH strips
      - Universal Indicator
    - - Electrical Conductivity
      - Titrimetry
      - Gas Chromatography
      - Colorimetry
- - - - Due to the oxygen portion of water having a more negative charge than the two hydrogen atoms, water is classified as a dipole which causes it to dissolve all molecules in water that have a higher polarity such as sodium chloride and sucrose. This is why water is one of the most common solv