Parasites in water reservoir / Nurul Atiqah Mohd Rosaai ... [et al.]

Have you ever wondered, how much water is there on, in and above the Earth? About 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is water-covered, roughly 97 percent found in the oceans (not suitable for drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes) and 3 percent is freshwater (CCAO, 2020). Freshwater resources, such as rainwater that falls from the sky and flows into streams, rivers, lakes and groundwater provide humankinds and animals with water they require on a daily basis. Not only that, water is also vital for the life and survival of all plants. The “6th Sustainable Development Goals: To ensure access to water and sanitation for all” reflecting how important clean water is. According to the United Nations, approximately 2.2 billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water, including 785 million who do not have access to basic drinking water. Millions of people will continue to die each year from water-related diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea unless infrastructure and management improve. The Association of Academies and Societies of Science in Asia (AASSA) vice president Prof Datuk Dr Khairul Anuar Abdullah said that the presence of parasites in both untreated and treated water supply in Southeast Asean countries can be a potential risk for disease transmission (BERNAMA, 2018).