How a poorly designed sewer system caused thousands of lives.

'Pandemic' has become a word that is popping up in every conversation around us. And one of the pandemics that took thousands of lives was cholera. Now cholera is just a disease that can be cured. But back in the 80s we once believed that the disease used to spread through a cloud in a specific area.

Yes, this happened in the late 1850s in London when the outbreak of Cholera happened which killed around 14,000 people in a town. Back then people used to believe that cholera used to spread to people through the cloud which they described as miasma theory. But when the research was conducted. It was observed that people who were affected by cholera were the people who regularly used some specific water pumps in their area. Back then, there were water pumps like petrol pumps in each sector because people back then used to not get water directly to their homes. When the research was conducted after the death of an infant due to cholera and found that, the cholera was not spreading through miasma (cloud) but through the pipelines of the water pumps. The root of the problem that caused thousands of death was a poorly designed sewer system. Cholera started to spread when the diaper of the infant was washed and the water was flushed to the sewer system. Then from the sewer system pipeline, the water started to leak in the well of the water pump. Also, a well-studied map showed that a sewage pipe ran very close to the pipe that carried drinking water to the pump in that town. The malfunction of the sewage system had costed the lives of many and had left the country in fear. The study was conducted by a well-known physician John Snow.

Even though Cholera is not a big threat today, there are many sicknesses that are directly related to a poor drainage system. Water waste is dangerous to human health and hazardous to the environment as it contains feces and urine of both humans and animals. They carry many diseases causing organisms.they also contain harmful chemicals and heavy metals.

Contaminated water can cause diseases like typhoid, paratyphoid, bacillary dysentery, gastroenteritis, and Cholera. Stomach infection and intestinal tract infection are very common and have symptoms like abdominal cramps, fever, nausea, and headaches.severe dehydration can cause death sometimes within a day. In such conditions, PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE is the mantra that we should follow. The above health hazards can be prevented by taking some Maintainance measures seriously. Getting our drainage cleared and keeping a check on leakages and seepage can help in achieving a healthy surrounding for us and our family.