Healthy Water: A Web Site for All Your Water-related Health Information

CDC's Healthy Water Web site serves as a source of water-related health information. It links to water-related public health resources and answers water-related questions for the general public, healthcare practitioners, policy makers, and water-sector professionals. Water is the most precious global resource: learn more about it.

As the world's most precious global resource, we all need water to drink in order to survive. Water is used by everyone, every day! Did you know that water also plays a role in almost everything around you? In order to manufacture the computer that you are currently using, water was needed. Water is needed to make plastics, to sustain cows and chickens that we later consume, to fill your local swimming pool, and to perform many medical procedures. Water can also be life-threatening, in the form of hurricanes, floods, and tsunamis. The importance of water goes beyond what we see and drink every day.

Water is a topic that gets a great deal of attention at CDC and around the globe. Topics range from filters for drinking water to water used in the disinfection and treatment of swimming pools. However, many people may not be aware of the considerable number of water-related topics or they may have had a difficult time searching for water-related information.

CDC's Healthy Water Web site has been developed to serve as a water information resource that can be accessed by all users including the general public, health care practitioners, policy makers, and water-sector professionals. This site was developed to increase accessibility to water-related public health information on CDC’s Web site, as well as externally. It will help you find public health answers to your water-related questions.

Healthy Water contains information that can be useful to people domestically in the United States, as well as globally in various settings. Currently, it is made up of seven sections:

• Drinking Water - Topics include community water systems, private groundwater wells, backcountry water for hikers/campers, and bottled water.
• Recreational Water - Topics include pools and spas, oceans, lakes and rivers, water-related injuries, and recreational water illnesses.
• Global Water - Topics include community water systems, household water treatment, sanitation and hygiene, and water-related travelers' health.
• Other Uses of Water - Topics include agricultural, industrial, and medical uses of water.
• Water-related Emergencies and Outbreaks - Topics include preparation and emergency need for safe drinking water, septic and wastewater systems, flood water exposure, and outbreak toolkits.
• Water-related Data and Statistics - Topics include health surveillance and outbreak data, biomonitoring data, and environmental tracking data related to water.
• Diseases, Contaminants and Injuries - Topics include listings of water-related diseases, impurities, and injuries by A-Z, by primary symptom/illness, and by type of contaminant (e.g., bacterial, parasitic, viral, and chemical).

Development of the Healthy Water Web site will be an ongoing process. The Web site will grow as more resources and tools are created or linked to various topics.

CDC wants to make it easier for you to find the answers to your water-related questions! As this is a Web site that was designed with the user in mind, feedback will play an important role in driving Web site changes and future content development. Please feel free to send comments and suggestions about the Healthy Water Web site to healthywater@cdc.gov.