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Article: Is contaminated groundwater an important cause of viral gastroenteritis in the United States? (Features).
- Article from:
- Journal of Environmental Health
- Article date:
- October 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 National Environmental Health Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
Groundwater may be subjected to fecal contamination from a variety of sources, including effluents of sewage treatment plants; discharges from onsite septic-waste treatment; runoff from urban, agricultural, and natural lands; and leachates from sanitary landfills, According to the 1990 U.S. Census, 25 million U.S. households use onsite wastewater treatment systems (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [U.S. EPA], 2000). These households contribute one trillion gallons of septic-tank waste per year to the ground (Canter, 1984). Concerns about contamination of underground water supplies and human health risks have prompted a number of studies of virus ...