Amoema and bacteria in our water; Trojan Horses

A new analysis finds evidence of widespread contamination of water supplies with amoebas, such as the three Acanthamoeba cells shown here. Each contains many bacteria (some shown, red arrows), which can be toxic to humans. The light circle is a cyst, an amoeba resting inside a heavily protective shell.

Amoeba, as we all know (of course we do, don't we!), are single celled eukaryotic organisms. In terms of water health, they haven't been given much importance because they have been perceived as relatively safe.. or at least non-threatening or non-toxic.

Well, that's about to change. Evidence just in from an Australian study tells us that amoeba carry bacteria, and that bacteria can be very nasty.


The study finds that amoebas are appearing often enough in water supplies and even in treated tap water to be considered a potential health risk.

Trojan Horses

A number of these microorganisms can directly trigger disease, from a blinding corneal infection to a rapidly lethal brain inflammation. But many amoebas possess an equally sinister if less well-recognized alter ego: As Trojan horses, they can carry around harmful bacteria, allowing many types to not only multiply inside amoeba cells but also evade disinfection agents at water-treatment facilities.

Even though recent data indicate that amoebas can harbor many serious waterborne human pathogens, U.S. water systems don’t have to screen for the parasites, according to study coauthor Nicholas Ashbolt of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Exposure Research Laboratory in Cincinnati. He coauthored a study of amoebas’ “yet unquantified emerging health risk” in the February 1 Environmental Science & Technology.

Parasites

He and Jacqueline Thomas of the University of New South Wales in Sydney analyze data from 26 studies conducted in 18 countries. All had identified amoebas in drinking-water systems. Some reports had focused on measurements at treatment plants, others in exiting water; some even extracted the parasites from tap water. Indeed, among 16 studies that looked for tap-water contamination, 45 percent reported finding amoebas.

So what can you do? The good news is that there are plenty of solutions in a good water filter because the size of amoeba means they can be excluded.

Go here to learn more about our best choice of parasite-free system.