scholarly journals Removal of bacteria, protozoa and viruses through a multiple-barrier household water disinfection system

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Espinosa-García ◽  
C. Díaz-Ávalos ◽  
R. Solano-Ortiz ◽  
M. A. Tapia-Palacios ◽  
N. Vázquez-Salvador ◽  
...  

Municipal water disinfection systems in some areas are not always able to meet water consumer needs, such as ensuring distributed water quality, because household water management can be a contributing factor in water re-contamination. This fact is related to the storage options that are common in places where water is scarce or is distributed over limited time periods. The aim of this study is to assess the removal capacity of a multiple-barrier water disinfection device for protozoa, bacteria, and viruses. Water samples were taken from households in Mexico City and spiked with a known amount of protozoa (Giardia cyst, Cryptosporidium oocyst), bacteria (Escherichia coli), and viruses (rotavirus, adenovirus, F-specific ribonucleic acid (FRNA) coliphage). Each inoculated sample was processed through a multiple-barrier device. The efficiency of the multiple-barrier device to remove E. coli was close to 100%, and more than 87% of Cryptosporidium oocysts and more than 98% of Giardia cysts were removed. Close to 100% of coliphages were removed, 99.6% of the adenovirus was removed, and the rotavirus was almost totally removed. An effect of site by zone was detected; this observation is important because the water characteristics could indicate the efficiency of the multiple-barrier disinfection device.

2013 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCISKA M. SCHETS ◽  
HAROLD H. J. L. van den BERG ◽  
ANA MARIA de RODA HUSMAN

The intestinal parasites Cryptosporidium and Giardia are transmitted by water and food and cause human gastroenteritis. Filter-feeding bivalve mollusks, such as oysters and mussels, filter large volumes of water and thus concentrate such pathogens, which makes these bivalves potential vectors of disease. To assess the risk of infection from consumption of contaminated bivalves, parasite numbers and parasite recovery data are required. A modified immunomagnetic separation (IMS) procedure was used to determine Cryptosporidium oocyst and Giardia cyst numbers in individually homogenized oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and mussels (Mytilus edulis). About 12% of the commercial bivalves were positive, with low (oo)cyst numbers per specimen. The recovery efficiency of the IMS procedure was systematically evaluated. Experiments included seeding of homogenized bivalves and whole animals with 100 to 1,000 (oo)cysts. Both seeding procedures yielded highly variable recovery rates. Median Cryptosporidium recoveries were 7.9 to 21% in oysters and 62% in mussels. Median Giardia recoveries were 10 to 25% in oysters and 110% in mussels. Giardia recovery was significantly higher than Cryptosporidium recovery. (Oo)cysts were less efficiently recovered from seeded whole animals than from seeded homogenates, with median Cryptosporidium recoveries of 5.3% in oysters and 45% in mussels and median Giardia recoveries of 4.0% in oysters and 82% in mussels. Both bivalve homogenate seeding and whole animal seeding yielded higher (oo)cyst recovery in mussels than in oysters, likely because of the presence of less shellfish tissue in IMS when analyzing the smaller mussels compared with the larger oysters, resulting in more efficient (oo)cyst extraction. The data generated in this study may be used in the quantitative assessment of the risk of infection with Cryptosporidium or Giardia associated with the consumption of raw bivalve mollusks. This information may be used for making risk management decisions.


MRS Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (30) ◽  
pp. 1605-1610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdiel Oquendo-Cruz ◽  
Ana Vega-Avila ◽  
Oscar Perales-Pérez

ABSTRACTAs the global populations grow, water demand and pollution of water resources will increase. As a consequence, water borne disease outbreaks are on the rise and current disinfection methods have been shown to be ineffective in inactivating all pathogens during water treatment. Aluminum oxide nanoparticles (Al2O3 NPs) have been shown to poses antimicrobial properties. Also, Al2O3 has high thermal and chemical stability, which makes these NPs an excellent candidate for water treatment applications. Thus, the objective of this work is to assess the bactericidal properties of Al2O3 NPs synthesized using a polyol-based process in presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). For practical applications nanoparticles must be immobilized in a medium to ensure that particles are not dispersed into the treated water. For this reason, synthesized nanoparticles were dispersed in electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membranes to also evaluate the bacterial removal capacity. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis suggests that synthesized nanoparticles are γ-Al2O3 after annealing at 800°C for 6 hours. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) characterization was used to determine the morphology and size of synthesized nanoparticles. Composite electrospun membranes were also characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and SEM. The bactericide activity of the synthesized γ-Al2O3 NPs and commercially available Al2O3 particles was evaluated by the disc diffusion method against E. coli bacteria. Also, Al2O3-PAN composite electrospun membranes bacterial filtration capacity was tested. Both synthesized and industrially produced particles exhibited antibacterial activity against E. coli, but polyol-based synthesized nanoparticles demonstrated better bactericide properties. The bacterial removal capacity of PAN and PAN/Al2O3 fibers was comparable to that of paper filters.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 259-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadhana Shrestha ◽  
Eiji Haramoto ◽  
Rabin Malla ◽  
Kei Nishida

Shallow groundwater is the main water source among many alternatives in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, which has a rapidly growing population and intermittent piped water supply. Although human pathogens are detected in groundwater, its health effects are unclear. We estimated risk of diarrhoea from shallow groundwater use using quantitative microbial risk assessment. Escherichia coli, Giardia cyst and Cryptosporidium oocyst levels were analysed in dug and tube wells samples. E. coli concentrations were converted to those of enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). Risks from EPEC in dug wells and from Cryptosporidium and Giardia in both dug and tube wells were higher than the acceptable limit (<10−4 infections/person-year) for both drinking and bathing exposures. Risk from protozoan enteropathogens increased the total risk 10,000 times, indicating that ignoring protozoans could lead to serious risk underestimation. Bathing exposure considerably increased risk, indicating that it is an important pathway. Point-of-use (POU) water treatment decreased the risk six-fold and decreased risk overestimation. Because removal efficiency of POU water treatment has the largest impact on total risk, increasing the coverage and efficiency of POU water treatment could be a practical risk management strategy in the Kathmandu Valley and similar settings.


2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christobel M. Ferguson ◽  
Cheryl M. Davies ◽  
Christine Kaucner ◽  
Nicholas J. Ashbolt ◽  
Martin Krogh ◽  
...  

The dispersion and transport of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts, Escherichia coli and PRD1 bacteriophage seeded into artificial bovine faecal pats was studied during simulated rainfall events. Experimental soil plots were divided in two, one sub-plot with bare soil and the other with natural vegetation. Simulated rainfall events of 55 mm.h-1 for 30 min were then applied to the soil plots. Each experimental treatment was performed in duplicate and consisted of three sequential artificial rainfall events (‘Runs’): a control run (no faecal pats); a fresh faecal pat run (fresh faecal pats); and an aged faecal pat run (one week aged faecal pats). Transportation efficiency increased with decreasing size of the microorganism studied; Cryptosporidium oocysts were the least mobile followed by E. coli and then PRD1 phage. Rainfall events mobilised 0.5 to 0.9% of the Cryptosporidium oocysts, 1.3‒1.4% of E. coli bacteria, and 0.03‒0.6% of PRD1 bacteriophages from the fresh faecal pats and transported them a distance of 10 m across the bare soil sub-plots. Subsequent rainfall events applied to aged faecal pats only mobilised 0.01‒0.06% of the original Cryptosporidium oocyst load, between 0.04 and 15% of the E. coli load and 0.0006‒0.06% of PRD1 bacteriophages, respectively.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-H. von Bonsdorff ◽  
L. Maunula ◽  
R.M. Niemi ◽  
R. Rimhanen-Finne ◽  
M.-L. Hänninen ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to monitor the levels of human enteric viruses and enteric protozoa and to relate their presence to the microbes used as hygienic quality indicators in domestic sewage from a small community in Finland during a period of one year. Genome-based sensitive detection methods for the pathogens selected (astro- and Norwalk-like viruses, Giardia and Cryptosporidium) have become available only recently and thus no earlier data was available. The effluent sewage is delivered into a river that serves as raw water for a larger town and the pathogens therefore constitute a health risk. The results showed that all the monitored pathogens could be detected, and that enteric viruses were present at considerable concentrations in sewage. High concentrations of astrovirus in raw sewage were observed during a diarrhea epidemic in the local day-care centre. The presence of viruses did not correlate with the monitored bacterial indicators of faecal contamination (coliforms, E. coli and enterococci) or with bacteriophages (somatic coliphages, F-specific RNA phages and B. fragilis phages). Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected from one sample (1/10) each.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1463
Author(s):  
Tamirat Tefera Temesgen ◽  
Kristoffer Relling Tysnes ◽  
Lucy Jane Robertson

Cryptosporidium oocysts are known for being very robust, and their prolonged survival in the environment has resulted in outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis associated with the consumption of contaminated water or food. Although inactivation methods used for drinking water treatment, such as UV irradiation, can inactivate Cryptosporidium oocysts, they are not necessarily suitable for use with other environmental matrices, such as food. In order to identify alternative ways to inactivate Cryptosporidium oocysts, improved methods for viability assessment are needed. Here we describe a proof of concept for a novel approach for determining how effective inactivation treatments are at killing pathogens, such as the parasite Cryptosporidium. RNA sequencing was used to identify potential up-regulated target genes induced by oxidative stress, and a reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) protocol was developed to assess their up-regulation following exposure to different induction treatments. Accordingly, RT-qPCR protocols targeting thioredoxin and Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein 7 (COWP7) genes were evaluated on mixtures of viable and inactivated oocysts, and on oocysts subjected to various potential inactivation treatments such as freezing and chlorination. The results from the present proof-of-concept experiments indicate that this could be a useful tool in efforts towards assessing potential technologies for inactivating Cryptosporidium in different environmental matrices. Furthermore, this approach could also be used for similar investigations with other pathogens.


Author(s):  
Krutanjali Swain ◽  
Abhilash Routray ◽  
Saraswat Sahoo and Subha Ganguly

Bovine cryptosporidiosisis primarily associated with neonatal diarrhoea with higher morbidity than mortality in young calves till they attain immunological maturity. The present investigation relates to a report on the shedding of Cryptosporidium oocyst in two buffalo calves of buffalo farm, Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar from 1st days up to 3 month of age at 15 days interval using simple conventional microscopy. By using formol-ether concentration technique followed by modified Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) acid fast staining, Cryptosporidium oocysts were concentrated and identified. The Cryptosporidium oocysts appeared as reddish pink coloured bodies against a bluish/greenish coloured background at oil immersion using ZN staining kit. The maximum oocyst shedding was observed (2.3 oocyst / field) during 16 to 30 days of age. The oocyst shedding gradually decreased with increase in age afterwards clearly indicating the disease of young buffalo calves.


2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebrahim Mahmoudi ◽  
Farid Moeinpour

Abstract The present research studied the anti-bacterial effect of silver-coated red soil nanoparticles on Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) from water. The effects of disinfectant concentration (0.02, 0.05 and 0.1 g/mL), contact time (10, 20 and 30 minutes) and bacteria number (102, 104 and 106 CFU/mL) have been also investigated. To obtain important factors, the interactions between factors and optimal experimental design in surface response method were used based on Box-Behnken design. According to the research findings, the system is efficient in eliminating E. coli. The results showed that E. coli elimination efficiency intensified through increasing the amount of disinfectant from 0.02 to 0.1 g/mL. Expanding contact time from 10 minutes to 30 minutes also heightened the E. coli elimination rate. R2 for E. coli elimination is 0.9956 indicating a good agreement between model experimental data and forecasting data.


Author(s):  
Z. Banda ◽  
Rosely A.B. Nichols ◽  
A.M. Grimason ◽  
H.V. Smith

Of 1 346 faecal samples from the Chikwawa and Thyolo districts of Malawi, analysed for the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts between October 2001 and May 2003, 61.3 % were from cattle (29.8 % of these were from calves < 6 months old). Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected during all three seasons studied in Chikwawa and Thyolo. In Chikwawa, 13.6 % of adult cattle and 11.7 % of calves were infected, compared to 28.9 % of adult cattle and 36.7 % of calves in Thyolo. Dependent on season, between 7.8 % and 37.7 % (Chikwawa) and 16.7 % and 39.3 % (Thyolo) of cattle samples contained oocysts. In Chikwawa, the highest percentage of infections occurred in the cool season, whereas in Thyolo, the highest percentage of infections occurred in the dry season. Faecal samples from goats [n = 225], pigs [n = 92], sheep [n = 6]), rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, doves and guinea fowls were also analysed. Up to 5.6 % of goat samples contained oocysts in Chikwawa, compared to between 16.7 % and 39.3 % in Thyolo. Again, in Chikwawa, the highest percentage of infections occurred in the cool season and the lowest in the rainy season, whereas, in Thyolo, the highest percentage of infections occurred in the dry season and the lowest in the cool season. In pigs, more infections were detected in the dry season in Chikwawa, but infections in the cool season were similar (17.7 %), whereas in Thyolo, infections occurred in all three seasons (17.9 % in the rainy season, 25 % in the cool season and 60 % in the dry season). Often diarrhoeic, oocyst positive cattle faecal samples collected from Chikwawa and subjected to PCR-RFLP, four oocyst positive samples (two from heifers, one from a cow and one unknown) were amplified at an 18S rRNA and Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) loci. RFLP of the 18S rRNA locus indicated that Cryptosporidium parvum, Cryptosporidium hominis, Cryptosporidium bovis and / or Cryptosporidium ryanae DNA, or a mixture of them was present. Cryptosporidium parvum DNA was identified in one sample that amplified at the COWP locus, indicating the presence of the major zoonotic Cryptosporidium species in Malawi.


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