Study of Long-Term Effectiveness of Water Safety Plan Applied to Microfiltered Water Dispensers to Improve Water Quality

Autor: Sandra Cristino, Silvano Salaris, Maria Rosaria Pascale, Marta Mazzotta, Luna Girolamini, Graziella Ciani
Přispěvatelé: Marta Mazzotta, Silvano Salaris, Maria Rosaria Pascale, Luna Girolamini, Graziella Ciani, Sandra Cristino
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Water, Vol 13, Iss 2905, p 2905 (2021)
Water
Volume 13
Issue 20
ISSN: 2073-4441
0000-0000
Popis: 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.
Databáze: OpenAIRE