The river, a cult river for Hinduism, in which people and animals wash, where wastewater is drained and over which the ashes of the dead are scattered, is credited with unique self-purification abilities. We decided to check whether there is scientific evidence of such properties.

To the medieval Indian mystic poet Kabir attributed to This is the description of the Ganges: “Hell floats along a river full of corpses of men and animals touched by decay.” Since ancient times, its waters have been used in the leather, woodworking, slaughterhouse and sugar industries, for agricultural purposes, for domestic needs - washing, laundry, cooking, and also as a cemetery for cremated and even uncremated bodies. At the same time, modern publications in tourism blogs And social networks they say that, despite the pollution, the sacred river purifies itself, attributing this magical property either to its spiritual power or its ability to retain oxygen. The media called the river is “killer” and “deadly to humans.”

The Ganges, the third most water-bearing river in the world, second only to the Amazon and Congo, leaks in India and Bangladesh. Its source is in the Western Himalayas, on the Gangotri glacier, then the river flows to the southeast, passing through the Indo-Gangetic plain, and flows into the Bay of Bengal. In Hindu mythology The Ganges is considered a heavenly river descended to earth. Legends say that the river flows in three worlds: heavenly (high mountain source), earthly and underground. Myths also call the river the embodiment of the goddess Ganga - according to one version, the daughter of Brahma. Hindus believe that bathing in the sacred river can wash away sins and illnesses, and the soul of the deceased, laid to rest in the river, is liberated from the wheel of samsara. The best place to go to the next world is the Indians think city of Varanasi. The sick and old people come there to die, and relatives bring the bodies of their loved ones. It is believed that the fire at Manikarnika Ghat, the most popular cremation site, has not been extinguished for more than a millennium. However, cremation in Varanasi costs a lot of money, so the bodies of those who do not pay for it, as well as unmarried girls, children and pregnant women with a tied load, are simply lowered to the bottom of the river.

Ganges called the second most polluted river in the world, second only to the Citarum on the Indonesian island of Java. By calculations The Economist, Gastrointestinal infections caused by pathogens from the river are killing a thousand children every day. WHO leads a slightly different figure: the waters of the sacred river are responsible for 30–40% of deaths from intestinal infections in the region. The causative agents of cholera, dysentery, hepatitis, amoebiasis, shigellosis, the pathogen Schistosoma mansoni and fecal enterobacteria were found in them. Water near the city of Varanasi describe as "a brown soup of excrement and industrial wastewater." In this area in samples revealed about 600 fecal enterobacteria capable of reproducing, while the threshold permissible rate is 120 times lower.

Ганг, Священный, Река, Харидвар, Индия, Индуистские — Traditional bath in the Ganges

The history of research into the microbiological composition of the Ganges is gaining momentum along with the understanding of the bacterial nature of diseases. Dr. Ernest Hankin, who studied and worked under Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, traveled to India in 1892. There he is got busy studying cholera and disproved the miasma theory by demonstrating to the scientific community Vibrio cholerae, discovered in 1883 by Robert Koch. Comparing water samples in different areas, he noticed an interesting fact: the Jumna River, a tributary of the Ganges near the city of Agra, contained 100,000 vibrios cholera per 1 cm³, while 5 km downstream there was not a single active pathogen, but only about 100 embryos. Then Hankin suggested that the waters contained some kind of microorganism that killed bacteria.

Already in the 20th century, microbiologist Felix d'Herelle will highlight it will be called a bacteriophage, that is, a “bacteria eater.” In 1928, the scientist came to India in the midst of a cholera outbreak. He isolated a bacteriophage from the feces of convalescent people. Without any special bureaucratic problems, d'Herelle received permission to use the bacteriophage on humans. The medicine showed excellent results: out of 70 patients who received the medicine, only six died, while in the control group, which consisted of 240 sick people, 143 people died. In his notebook, the microbiologist wrote: “In areas where cholera is widespread, a certain number of villages are striking where there was not a single case of cholera, and there the bacteriophage was discovered in well water, in flies, in the feces of healthy people. In the villages where the epidemic began, the bacteriophage was not detected.” Later scientists more than once discovered in the waters of the Ganges there are significant colonies of bacteriophages, which, in fact, restrained the development of pathogenic bacteria. However, bacteriophages are not unique inhabitants of the Indian river. According to the latest data, they are found in soil, fresh and salt water, and other living organisms. The total number of bacteriophages on our planet is 10³¹, and their weight is about 109 tons.

Scientists also report that the waters of the Ganges are capable of retaining large amounts of oxygen, which may somehow affect self-purification, but they cannot yet explain exactly why this is due. National Public Radio in 2010 reportedthat the causative agents of cholera and dysentery in the river have become significantly smaller.

Country authorities and non-profit organizations arrange Various campaigns to clean up the river have not yet achieved significant results. Experts They saythat it will take several decades of active action for the waters to become safe enough for humans.

Thus, the waters of the Indian Ganges River actually contain microorganisms that control the number of bacteria that cause infections. However, they are not unique and are only capable of controlling populations of pathogens, and not completely purifying water from them.