Establishing the influence of the in-house water distribution system and sampling procedures on the microbiological quality of drinking water
Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study was to find out how the in-house water distribution system affects the microbiological quality of drinking water and to find a suitable way to evaluate the results of microbiological tests according to the sampling locations, develop methods for establishing the influence of the in-house water distribution system on the quality of drinking water and evaluate the suitability of some procedures for sampling.
Methods: The study was conducted in south-eastern Slovenia between October 2003 and October 2004, thereby eliminating the influence of the seasons. Four-hundred-and-sixty-eight samples of drinking water were included in the study.
Results: The results of the samples included in this study suggest (p < 0.05) that the first flush samples do not contain Escherichia coli more often than the samples after flushing and the sample from the primary water distribution system. The results also show that the heterotrophic plate count is significantly higher in the first flush samples (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: The study demonstrated that the in-house water distribution system affects the microbiological quality of drinking water, and that certain sampling methods significantly affect the test results, and also that knowing the characteristics of the sampling locations is also of significant importance. Some results cannot be analyzed well, therefore additional research is needed.
Downloads
References
Svetovna zdravstvena organizacija. Guidelines for drinking water quality. 2nd ed., vol 2: Health criteria and other supporting information. Ženeva: WHO, 1996.
Conway JB. Water quality management. In: Wallace RB, Doebbeling BN eds. Maxcy-Rosenau-Last – Public health and preventive medicine. 14th ed. Stamford: Appleton & Lange, 1998: 737–63.
Pepper IL, Rusin P, Quintanar DR, Haney C, Josephson KL, Gerba CP. Tracking the concentration of heterotrophic plate count bacteria from the source to the consumer’s tap. Int J Food Microbiol 2004; 92: 289–95. (Available at: doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2003.08.021).
International organization for standardization. ISO 5667 series – Water quality – Sampling.
Bartram J, Cotruvo J, Exner M, Fricker C, Glasmacher A. Heterotrophic plate count measurement in drinking water safety management. Report of an expert meeting Geneva, 24-25 april 2002. Int J Food Microbiol 2004, 92: 241–7 (Available at: doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2003.08.005).
Košmelj B, Rovan J. Statistično sklepanje. Ljubljana: Ekonomska fakulteta, 2000; 222–4.
Medicinska fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani, Inštitut za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša Znanstvenoraziskovalnega centra SAZU, Zdravniška zbornica Slovenije. Slovenski medicinski slovar. Ljubljana: Medicinska fakulteta, 2002.
Sartory DP. Heterotrophic plate count monitoring of treated drinking water in the UK: a useful operational tool. Int J Food Microbiol 2004, 92: 297– 306 (Available at: doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2003.08.006).
The Author transfers to the Publisher (Zdravniški vestnik/Slovenian Medical Journal) all economic copyrights following form Article 22 of the Slovene Copyright and Related Rights Act (ZASP), including the right of reproduction, the right of distribution, the rental right, the right of public performance, the right of public transmission, the right of public communication by means of phonograms and videograms, the right of public presentation, the right of broadcasting, the right of rebroadcasting, the right of secondary broadcasting, the right of communication to the public, the right of transformation, the right of audiovisual adaptation and all other rights of the author according to ZASP.
The aforementioned rights are transferred non-exclusively, for an unlimited number of editions, for the term of the statutory
The Author can make use of his work himself or transfer subjective rights to others only after 3 months from date of first publishing in the journal Zdravniški vestnik/Slovenian Medical Journal.
The Publisher (Zdravniški vestnik/Slovenian Medical Journal) has the right to transfer the rights, acquired parties without explicit consent of the Author.
The Author consents that the Article be published under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 (attribution-non-commercial) or comparable licence.
