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Abstract
The concept that domestic rainwater storage tanks may host sustainable microbial ecosystems
has not previously been addressed. The bacterial diversity, cultivated from more than
80 samples from 22 tanks at various locations across eastern Australia, is presented
here as prima facie evidence for the potential operation of a functional micro-ecology
within rainwater storage systems. Cultivated isolates were found to comprise members
of four major bacterial divisions; Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and
Bacteroidetes, including more than 200 species from 80 different genera. The pattern
of abundance distribution was typical of that observed in most natural communities,
comprising a small number of abundant taxa and a multitude of rare taxa, while the
specific composition resembled that previously described in a number of natural aquatic
systems. Although Proteobacteria from alpha, beta and gamma sub-classes were dominant,
a set of core taxa comprising representative genera from all four phyla could be identified.
Coliform and other species specifically associated with faecal material comprised
<15% of the species identified, and represented <1.5% of total average abundance.
The composition of the cultivated populations and scope of diversity present, suggested
that rainwater tanks may support functional ecosystems comprising complex communities
of environmental bacteria, which may have beneficial implications for the quality
of harvested rainwater.