Water heating by a domestic water heater. Two conflicting safety issues affect water heater temperature—the risk of scalding from excessively hot water greater than , and the risk of incubating bacteria colonies, particularly "Legionella", in water that is not hot enough to kill them. Both risks are potentially life-threatening and are balanced by setting the water heater's thermostat to . The European Guidelines for Control and Prevention of Travel Associated Legionnaires’ Disease recommend that hot water should be stored at and distributed so that a temperature of at least and preferably is achieved within one minute at points of use. If there
Water scarcity in Africa those living with less developed or non-existent water infrastructure, natural, untreated water sources often contain tiny disease-carrying worms and bacteria. Although many of these waterborne sicknesses are treatable and preventable, they are nonetheless one of the leading causes of disease and death in the world. Globally, 2.2 million people die each year from diarrhea-related disease, and at any given time fifty percent of all hospital beds in the world are occupied by patients suffering from water-related diseases. Infants and children are especially susceptible to these diseases because of their young immune systems, which lends to elevated infant mortality rates in