I know waterborne illness is the #1 cause for very young people, not sure about adults.
Almost all of that is cholera and amoebic dysentery.
Which is a direct result of fecal contamination and population densities.
It’s once again one of those things ya gotta be smart about. Would I go to downtown Seattle and drink water from a puddle in an alley where the bums have been PSN?
Hell no.
Just seems to me that an article like this, while it is interesting and commendable science for the kid who did it, ends up inspiring all this (in my mind) way overdone hysteria.
We’re not talking typhoid or smallpox here.
You know what I mean! As always, take all precautions you personally feel you need to.
The military encouraged that.
I started every shift of my military kitchen service with 3 each 25 gallon pots of water that got heated to as close to 210F as altitude allowed.
Just in case power went out and I needed it. It was also darned handy for other uses.
One of the problems some folks don't realize is that the good old US of A is becoming 3rd world in some respects. We've got the 3rd worlders here. Facilities aren't as good as they were in the 70s/80s, and things like bedbugs and lice are on the rise right here in the US of A.
/johnny