37
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
1 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      New Perspectives in Monitoring Drinking Water Microbial Quality

      review-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          The safety of drinking water is evaluated by the results obtained from faecal indicators during the stipulated controls fixed by the legislation. However, drinking-water related illness outbreaks are still occurring worldwide. The failures that lead to these outbreaks are relatively common and typically involve preceding heavy rain and inadequate disinfection processes. The role that classical faecal indicators have played in the protection of public health is reviewed and the turning points expected for the future explored. The legislation for protecting the quality of drinking water in Europe is under revision, and the planned modifications include an update of current indicators and methods as well as the introduction of Water Safety Plans (WSPs), in line with WHO recommendations. The principles of the WSP approach and the advances signified by the introduction of these preventive measures in the future improvement of dinking water quality are presented. The expected impact that climate change will have in the quality of drinking water is also critically evaluated.

          Related collections

          Most cited references80

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          The Association Between Extreme Precipitation and Waterborne Disease Outbreaks in the United States, 1948–1994

          Rainfall and runoff have been implicated in site-specific waterborne disease outbreaks. Because upward trends in heavy precipitation in the United States are projected to increase with climate change, this study sought to quantify the relationship between precipitation and disease outbreaks. The US Environmental Protection Agency waterborne disease database, totaling 548 reported outbreaks from 1948 through 1994, and precipitation data of the National Climatic Data Center were used to analyze the relationship between precipitation and waterborne diseases. Analyses were at the watershed level, stratified by groundwater and surface water contamination and controlled for effects due to season and hydrologic region. A Monte Carlo version of the Fisher exact test was used to test for statistical significance. Fifty-one percent of waterborne disease outbreaks were preceded by precipitation events above the 90th percentile (P = .002), and 68% by events above the 80th percentile (P = .001). Outbreaks due to surface water contamination showed the strongest association with extreme precipitation during the month of the outbreak; a 2-month lag applied to groundwater contamination events. The statistically significant association found between rainfall and disease in the United States is important for water managers, public health officials, and risk assessors of future climate change.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Long-term increases in surface water dissolved organic carbon: observations, possible causes and environmental impacts.

            Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in 22 UK upland waters have increased by an average of 91% during the last 15 years. Increases have also occurred elsewhere in the UK, northern Europe and North America. A range of potential drivers of these trends are considered, including temperature, rainfall, acid deposition, land-use, nitrogen and CO2 enrichment. From examination of recent environmental changes, spatial patterns in observed trends, and analysis of time series, it is suggested that DOC may be increasing in response to a combination of declining acid deposition and rising temperatures; however it is difficult to isolate mechanisms based on monitoring data alone. Long-term DOC increases may have wide-ranging impacts on freshwater biota, drinking water quality, coastal marine ecosystems and upland carbon balances. Full understanding of the significance of these increases requires further knowledge of the extent of natural long-term variability, and of the natural "reference" state of these systems.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Microbial contamination of drinking water and disease outcomes in developing regions

              Drinking water is a major source of microbial pathogens in developing regions, although poor sanitation and food sources are integral to enteric pathogen exposure. Gastrointestinal disease outcomes are also more severe, due to under-nutrition and lack of intervention strategies in these regions. Poor water quality, sanitation and hygiene account for some 1.7 million deaths a year world-wide (3.1% of all deaths and 3.7% of all DALY’s), mainly through infectious diarrhoea. Nine out of 10 such deaths are in children and virtually all of the deaths are in developing countries. Major enteric pathogens in these children include: rotavirus, Campylobacter jejuni, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Shigella spp. and Vibrio cholerae O1, and possibly enteropathogenic E. coli, Aeromonas spp. V. cholerae O139, enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, Clostridium difficile and Cryptosporidium parvum. All except the latter are easily control by chlorination of water, but recontamination of treated water is a huge problem. Emerging environmental pathogens, such as Helicobacter pylori and Burkholderia pseudomallei, may well be of significance in some regions. In adults, much less is understood of various sequellae such as myocarditis, diabetes, reactive arthritis and cancers some months–years after initial infections. So in addition to the traditional pathogens (helminths, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia hepatitis A and E) various enteroviruses, C. jejuni and H. pylori are emerging issues in adults.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Int J Environ Res Public Health
                101238455
                International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
                Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
                1661-7827
                1660-4601
                December 2010
                10 December 2010
                : 7
                : 12
                : 4179-4202
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Unit of Microbiology, School of Medicine, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virigili, Sant Llorenç 21, 43201-Reus, Spain
                [2 ] Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Malaga, Campus Universitario Teatinos, 29071-Malaga, Spain; E-Mail: jjborrego@ 123456uma.es
                Author notes
                * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: mariajose.figueras@ 123456urv.cat ; Tel.: +34-977-759-321; Fax: +34-977-759-322.
                Article
                ijerph-07-04179
                10.3390/ijerph7124179
                3037048
                21318002
                96838086-1168-4e48-848c-f105416044ff
                © 2010 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.

                This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

                History
                : 10 November 2010
                : 6 December 2010
                Categories
                Review

                Public health
                climate change,indicator microorganisms,wsp,european drinking water directive,drinking water quality

                Comments

                Comment on this article