A cryptosporidiosis infection was reported in response to one of my OpEd News articles ("Aiken, S.C. + Drinking Water = Brown Water + Parallel Health Hazards"), when that article was reprinted locally in The Aiken Chronicles (click here). This article drew the attention of a lady's friends in Aiken, and they contacted her immediately since they knew her Crypto history. Cryptosporidiosis causes 7465 illnesses per year and one death per year ("The Drinking Water Disease Spree; Aiken S.C. is Ground-Zero"). I continue to hammer out my fight to protect our drinking water from infectious disease and lead poisoning.
An Aiken Cryptosporidiosis Study
Background information for a case of cryptosporidium was obtained during my interviews with a normally healthy woman in Aiken, South Carolina. She contacted me from North Carolina when her cell phone 'blew up', after her friends in Aiken saw "Aiken, S.C. + Drinking Water = Brown Water + Parallel Health Hazards". When asked, 'Did you move out of Aiken to North Carolina in 2024 because of the drinking water?', she answered 'I moved to N.C. and yes. I was just outdone with the city not giving a damn. I almost died and they didn't care!'
Leading up to her abandonment of her Aiken home - where she still owns and operates a business - she reported the following sequence of events.
In December 2019, in the kitchen of her home, she drank clear water that passed through a Brita filter, which does not filter cryptosporidiosis from drinking water. When she went upstairs to brush her teeth, she saw that brown water was flowing from the faucet in her bathroom sink. Chlorine used to disinfect drinking water has no effect on cryptosporidium, which can enter water mains during repairs and through water hammer-induced cracks.
She was ill for five days after drinking the partially filtered brown water, where cryptosporidiosis symptoms appear in two to ten days. She collapsed within several days of drinking brown water, and she was later hospitalized for four days in January 2020, and the cause of her illness was unknown for several years until it was diagnosed as cryptosporidiosis in 2023. Between December 2019 and 2023, she saw different doctors on several occasions and experienced 'severe diarrhea all the time, fatigue and zero energy', which are symptoms of cryptosporidiosis.
In 2023, the Mayor of Aiken informed her that her water was tested and was safe to drink. In other words, he falsely claimed that tests performed years after the infection event were adequate to confirm her water safety. There is no possible way that tests, at such a late date, had anything to do whatsoever with infection years earlier.
Accordingly, evidence concludes that she was infected with cryptosporidiosis by Aiken drinking water.
These statements were reviewed and approved by the affected Aiken resident. I have received permission to reprint the following photos, provided that the lady's name is not used.
She also mentioned that, in 2023, the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) was investigating other Crypto cases in Aiken. Along with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the city of Aiken concerning water main breaks, I am requesting FOIA illness information from the DPH. I had planned to write this Op Ed at a later date with additional supporting information, but the City Manager's false claims to the public on August 25, 2025, prompted a response now.
Figure 1. Reported Cryptosporidiosis infection in Aiken
(Image by Leishear Engineering, LLC) Details DMCA
A Fight Toward Lead-Free Water Goes On
The Aiken City Manager did not respond to the following letter that was sent to him, the Aiken mayor, and each Aiken City Council member.
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