Giardia Lamblia Water Treatment

Giardia Lamblia is a protozoan which can exist as a trophozoite, usually 9 to 21 um long, or as an ovoid cyst, approximately 10 um long and 6 um wide. Protozoans are unicellular and colorless organisms that lack a cell wall and are generally invisible to the human eye. Giardia Lamblia is found in drinking water frequented by hikers and campers, as well as places where many residents rely on untreated surface water. When Giardia is ingested by human’s drinking water, Giardia Lamblia symptoms include diarrhea, fatigue, and cramps. The US EPA has a treatment technique in effect for Giardia in water.   
 
Giardia Lamblia Water Treatment -Slow sand filtration or a diatomaceous earth filter can remove up to 99 % of the cysts when proper pretreatment is utilized. Chemical oxidation - disinfection, Ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis all effectively remove Giardia cysts. Ozone appears to be very effective against the cysts when utilized in the chemical oxidation - disinfection process instead of chlorine. The most economical and widely used method of removing Giardia is mechanical filtration with a filter that has a nominal 1-micrometer pore size. Because of the size of the parasite, it can easily be removed from drinking water with precoat, solid block carbon filter, ceramic, pleated membrane, and string wound sediment filters.