Question: what ilnesses can be found in the water

Karen Rae answered on 24 Mar 2026:

Most common source of illness in water is bacteria that can cause an upset stomach. These are killed by chlorinating the water so that people don’t get ill. More serious illnesses include legionnaires disease (from legionella) which grows in water that is sitting in pipes for a long time. Cryptosporidiosis (from cryptosporidium found in animal poop), polio, dysentery, cholera and typhoid although they are not commonly found in the UK due to our treatment of the water but could be found if you were drinking water from untreated sources that had been contaminated with sewage.