Heterotrophic Plate Counts and Drinking-water Safety: The Significance of HPCs for Water Quality and Human Health

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bartram
1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. McGuire

If consumers detect an off-flavor in their drinking water, they are likely to believe that it probably is not safe. Water utilities will be defeating their best efforts to provide safe drinking water if they only meet health-related regulations and do not provide water that is free of off-flavor problems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current U.S. regulatory environment and discuss how these regulations can adversely impact the control of off-flavors in drinking water. Utilities should adopt a water quality goal that allows them to not only meet the minimums of the regulations, but also meet the customer's highest standards - water that is free of off-flavors.


2013 ◽  
Vol 773 ◽  
pp. 815-818
Author(s):  
Fang Hong Li ◽  
Xu Li Liang

The rural drinking water safety is an important issue for people's livelihood. For Luquan city, of Hebei province in China, drinking water was sampled through site investigation, and the water quality was analyzed used comprehensive index method. The results show that: the water type is IV in the investigation area, which is not suitable for drinking in a long time. The corresponding measures were proposed combined with the real conditions, which could provide theoretical guidance and policy reference for improvement of rural drinking water management mechanism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 870-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Schmidt ◽  
Bettina Rickert ◽  
Oliver Schmoll ◽  
Thomas Rapp

Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes water safety plans (WSPs) – a risk-based management approach – for premise plumbing systems in buildings to prevent deterioration of drinking-water quality. Experience with the implementation of WSPs in buildings were gathered within a pilot project in Germany. The project included an evaluation of the feasibility and advantages of WSPs by all stakeholders who share responsibility in drinking-water safety. While the feasibility of the concept was demonstrated for all buildings, benefits reported by building operators varied. The more technical standards were complied with before implementing WSP, the less pronounced were the resulting improvements. In most cases, WSPs yielded an increased system knowledge and awareness for drinking-water quality issues. WSPs also led to improved operation of the premise plumbing system and provided benefits for surveillance authorities. A survey among the European Network of Drinking-Water Regulators on the existing legal framework regarding drinking-water safety in buildings exhibited that countries are aware of the need to manage risks in buildings' installations, but experience with WSP is rare. Based on the successful implementation and the positive effects of WSPs on drinking-water quality, we recommend the establishment of legal frameworks that require WSPs for priority buildings whilst accounting for differing conditions in buildings and countries.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanwei Ren ◽  
Rikard Tröger ◽  
Lutz Ahrens ◽  
Karin Wiberg ◽  
Daqiang Yin

Abstract Background The vast occurrence of organic micropollutants in surface waters has raised concerns about drinking water safety and public health. The Tai Hu Basin region in China, a typical developing and populous area, is facing the challenge of water pollution. To ensure drinking water safety, the knowledge on how treatment techniques and raw water quality affect the quality of finished water must be improved. The aim of the current study was to evaluate drinking water quality in relation to source water origin and treatment strategies. Five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), using three different source waters in the Tai Hu River Basin, (i) Yangtze River, (ii) Wetland River Network, and (iii) Lake Tai Hu, were studied by analyzing 291 micropollutants in raw and finished water.Results Major differences in water characteristics were observed among the source waters. The dominating group of micropollutants in the River Network was pesticides, while Yangtze was mainly polluted by flame retardants. The total concentration of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in Tai Hu water was far higher than in others. In total, 51 compounds were detected in finished water, with an overall average total concentration of 730 ± 160 ng L -1 . The removal efficiency of the detected compounds in the DWTPs averaged 24 ± 149%, which highlights the major challenge for the DWTPs to remove emerging organic micropollutants through current treatment processes.Conclusions Our study showed that if the source water contains high levels of PFASs and organophosphorus flame retardants, even advanced treatment procedures are inefficient in removing the micropollutants, and the finished water may contain cumulative levels in the mg L -1 range. On the other hand, if pesticides and pharmaceuticals dominate, high overall treatment efficiencies may be obtained if using advanced treatment techniques. DWTPs are advised to use advanced treatment techniques or alternative water sources to guarantee the safety of drinking water. As surface water systems are highly impacted by upstream activities, efforts should also be made in the comprehensive water sector for improved surface water quality.


Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stavroula Tsitsifli ◽  
Vasilis Kanakoudis

Drinking water supply safety is of paramount importance for human health. Disinfection is considered as one of the most significant water treatment processes as it inactivates pathogens from drinking water. However, disinfection might have adverse effects in human health, as disinfection by-products, blamed for cancer and reproductive/developmental effects, are formed. Many predictive models and optimization tools are developed in the research. However, an early warning system integrating monitoring, modelling and optimization tools is lacking. The paper reviews the disinfection methods and the models developed so far and presents the basic principles for the development of an early warning system.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanwei Ren ◽  
Rikard Tröger ◽  
Lutz Ahrens ◽  
Karin Wiberg ◽  
Daqiang Yin

Abstract Background: The vast occurrence of organic micropollutants in surface waters has raised concerns about drinking water safety and public health. The Tai Hu Basin region in China, a typical developing and populous area, is facing the challenge of water pollution. To ensure drinking water safety, the knowledge on how treatment techniques and raw water quality affect the quality of finished water must be improved. The aim of the current study was to evaluate drinking water quality with respect to organic micropollutants and how the purity of finished water depends on source water contamination and drinking water treatment strategies. Five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), using three different source waters in the Tai Hu River Basin, (i) Yangtze River, (ii) Wetland River Network, and (iii) Lake Tai Hu, were studied by analyzing 291 micropollutants in raw and finished water. Results: Major differences in concentrations and composition profiles of organic micropollutants were observed between the source waters. Among the studied micropollutants, the dominating group was pesticides in the wetland river network and flame retardants in Yangtze. The total concentration of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in Tai Hu water was far higher than in other samples. In total, 51 compounds were detected in finished water, with an overall average total concentration of 730 ± 160 ng L-1. The removal efficiency of the detected compounds in the DWTPs averaged 24 ± 150 %, which highlights the major challenge for the DWTPs to remove emerging organic micropollutants through current treatment processes. Conclusions: Our study showed that if the source water contains high levels of PFASs and organophosphorus flame retardants, even advanced treatment procedures are inefficient in removing the micropollutants, and the finished drinking water may contain cumulative levels of organic micropollutants in the mg L-1 range. On the other hand, if pesticides and pharmaceuticals dominate, high overall treatment efficiencies may be obtained if using advanced treatment techniques. DWTPs are advised to use advanced treatment techniques or alternative water sources to guarantee the safety of drinking water. As surface water systems are highly impacted by upstream activities, efforts should also be made in the water sector for improved surface water quality.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 2905
Author(s):  
Marta Mazzotta ◽  
Silvano Salaris ◽  
Maria Rosaria Pascale ◽  
Luna Girolamini ◽  
Graziella Ciani ◽  
...  

The use of Microfiltered Water Dispensers (MWDs) is increasing in offices, companies, or commercial facilities, as a response to plastic pollution. Despite their widespread use, poor data are available about the water quality and pathogens developed. Starting from a high contamination found in MWDs, a Water Safety Plan (WSP) was implemented on 57 MWDs to improve the water quality. To assess the effectiveness of WSP during the period 2017–2021, the environmental monitoring of heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs) at 36 °C and 22 °C, Enterococcus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium perfringens, as prescribed by Italian regulation for drinking water, was conducted. A high level of HPCs at both temperatures was observed, over the regulation limit; contrarily, the pathogenic bacteria were absent. The contamination found was studied with respect to the temperature threshold of 25 °C, suggested by directives. No significant differences were found between samples above and below the threshold, while a significant decrease over the years was observed for HPCs at 36 °C (p = 0.0000000001) and 22 °C (p = 0.000006). The WSP implementation resulted in a 43.09% decrease for HPCs at 36 °C and a 24.26% decrease for HPCs at 22 °C. Moreover, during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the WSP contributed to limit the microbial contamination, preserving the MWDs’ functionality and hygienic conditions and the drinking water quality.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Sinclair ◽  
Joanne O'Toole ◽  
Katherine Gibney ◽  
Karin Leder

The last century has been marked by major advances in the understanding of microbial disease risks from water supplies and significant changes in expectations of drinking water safety. The focus of drinking water quality regulation has moved progressively from simple prevention of detectable waterborne outbreaks towards adoption of health-based targets that aim to reduce infection and disease to a level well below detection limits at the community level. This review outlines the changes in understanding of community disease and waterborne risks that prompted development of these targets, and also describes their underlying assumptions and current context. Issues regarding the appropriateness of selected target values, and how continuing changes in knowledge and practice may influence their evolution, are also discussed.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiwei Shao ◽  
Jiahong Liu ◽  
Haixing Zhang ◽  
Dianyi Yan ◽  
Weijia Li

In recent years, China has paid an increasing amount of attention to improving urban and rural drinking water safety, an important aspect of building a healthy and stable society. This study analyzed countermeasures to promote drinking water safety in Turpan City of Shanshan County, in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. First, we considered the current state of drinking water safety in Shanshan, including issues such as pollution, outdated water treatment technologies, leakage in the water supply pipe network, insufficient emergency management capability in urban areas, and low water supply guarantee rates in rural areas due to poor construction standards. Second, the quantity of guaranteed water resources was estimated; on this basis, an ideal distribution of regional water plants and water supply network needs for the optimal allocation of water resources is suggested. Third, a water purification program was developed to solve untreated water quality problems, including centralized and decentralized water quality treatments alongside intelligent water flow control processes. Water resource conservation and risk control measures are also proposed in order to promote the security of drinking water; equipment updates, and the establishment of an intelligent water management platform are also suggested.


2011 ◽  
Vol 94-96 ◽  
pp. 706-709
Author(s):  
Zhen Hua Liu

In the process of solving rural drinking water safety,there are some problems need to attach great importance. Evaluation index system of rural drinking water safety includes water quality, quantity, convenience, and dependability. Figure 1 shows that Polluted water is the main reason of unsafe drinking water quality, 40.9% of unsafe drinking water quality, 28.8% of unsafe drinking water. Figure 2 shows that basically the discharge of waste water each year from 1998 to 2009 is increasing, the total discharge of waste water across China from 1997 to 2009 reached to 621.945 billion t. Table 2 shows that national industrial solid waste generation and utilization is increasing,but discharge decreasing, industrial solid waste, directly or indirectly polluted water environment, especially rural drinking water sources. The paper draws a conclusion that there are some problems of rural drinking water such as rural unsafe drinking water quality, lack of laws and regulations and effective management, serious rural water pollution.


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