Comparison of the microbiologic quality of point-of-use (POU)-treated water and tap water

International Journal of Environmental Health Research
Cristobal Chaidez, Charles Gerba

Abstract

Activated carbon filtration devices placed on household faucets are used to improve the taste and odour of tap water. However, there has been a concern that the growth of bacteria capable of causing opportunistic infections in these devices might present a public health risk. The water quality from point-of-use (POU) water activated carbon treatment devices and that of tap water with POU-connections and tap water without POU devices were compared. Heterotrophic plate count (HPC) bacteria, total and faecal coliforms, and acid-fast organisms (Mycobacteria spp.), as well as, the opportunistic bacterial pathogens Aeromonas hydrophila, Plesiomonas shigelloides, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were enumerated. The highest concentration of bacteria was found in POU-treated water. P. aeruginosa, acid-fast organisms, and total coliforms were present in 38.5, 43.8, and 82.4% of the samples, respectively. HPC bacteria were present in all of the POU-treated water samples, with concentrations ranging from 10(2) to 10(7) colony forming units/mL. Neither faecal coliforms nor P. shigelloides were recovered from any samples. Tap water with a POU-connection also had higher numbers of bacteria than tap water samples. It was concluded that tap water wi...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 24, 2005·International Journal of Environmental Health Research·Aldo Pacheco Ferreira, Cynara de Lourdes Nóbrega da Cunha
Jul 27, 2010·The Science of the Total Environment·Shakhawat ChowdhuryJean Serodes
Nov 20, 2008·International Journal of Food Microbiology·Franca ZanettiRossella Sacchetti
Aug 8, 2006·Water Research·Steven LevesqueFrançois Proulx
Feb 28, 2015·American Journal of Infection Control·Charles P Gerba
Jun 30, 2016·MicrobiologyOpen·Emilie BédardEric Déziel
Jun 6, 2008·Journal of Environmental Monitoring : JEM·Jennifer L SedilloGeoffrey B Smith
Jan 18, 2006·Cadernos de saúde pública·Aldo Pacheco Ferreira
May 21, 2016·Environmental Health Perspectives·Nicholas B DeFeliceJacqueline MacDonald Gibson
Oct 13, 2005·FEMS Microbiology Reviews·Mario J M VaerewijckFrançoise Portaels
Jan 17, 2017·Journal of Athletic Training·Joel W BeamMario Ciocca
Feb 8, 2019·Journal of Environmental Health Science & Engineering·Salimeh RezaeiniaNeamat Jaafarzadeh
Feb 28, 2004·Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine·Melanie Newport
Jul 22, 2019·The Science of the Total Environment·Shakhawat ChowdhuryMohammad S Al-Suwaiyan
Dec 10, 2019·International Journal of Infectious Diseases : IJID : Official Publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases·Marcus ZervosShawn P McElmurry

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