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Microbial quality and physical–chemical characteristics of thermal springs

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Abstract

Microbial quality and physical–chemical properties of recreational spas were surveyed to investigate the health aspect of the spas’ water. A total of 195 samples were collected from pools and springs of the spas in five sites from Ardebil Province of Iran. The effects of an independent factor defined as ‘condition’ and its component sub-factors (i.e., sampling point, location, and sampling date) on microbial quality and physical–chemical properties of the spas were studied by applying path analysis. The influence of physical–chemical properties on microbial quality was also considered. The percentage of samples exceeding the ISIRI (Swimming pool water microbiological specifications (vol 9412), Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran, Tehran, 2007) limits for Staphylococcus (spp.) was up to 55.8 in the springs and 87.8 in the pools, 58.1 and 99.2 for HPC, 90.7 and 97.8 for total coliform and fecal coliform, and 9.3 and 34.4 for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. There were significant differences between the pools and springs for both physical–chemical properties and microbial quality. From the path analysis, sampling point was the most effective sub-factor of ‘condition’ on both the physical–chemical properties and microbial quality. Among the physical–chemical properties, water color had the most enhancing or additive influence on microbial pollution, while EC indicated a reducing or subtractive effect.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for financial support of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences for this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran

    Mehdi Fazlzadeh, Hadi Sadeghi & Pari Bagheri

  2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Yusef Poureshg

  3. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran

    Roohollah Rostami

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  1. Mehdi Fazlzadeh
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  2. Hadi Sadeghi
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  3. Pari Bagheri
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  4. Yusef Poureshg
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  5. Roohollah Rostami
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Correspondence to Roohollah Rostami.

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Fazlzadeh, M., Sadeghi, H., Bagheri, P. et al. Microbial quality and physical–chemical characteristics of thermal springs. Environ Geochem Health 38, 413–422 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-015-9727-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-015-9727-7

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