Isolation, identification and reviewing the health effect of HPC bacteria in household point-of-use (PoU) water treatment devices: a case study, Ahvaz, Iran

Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

In Ahwaz, a city in west southern Iran, the majority of households are using Point of Use (PoU) water treatment units. The heterotrophic plate count (HPC) bacteria were isolated from these units while they were mounted on water distribution system in order to determine the variations in HPC and diversity of the bacterial population using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results showed that bacterial population regrowth in PoU units could increase HPC exceeding the limit of the 500 CFU/mL in outlet water. In around 70% of the input water samples, the HPC was less than 500 CFU/ml with a mean of 226.7 (CI 95%: 28.1–425.3). HPC in output treated water samples had an increasing trend from the start of the unit operation with a mean of 2416.4 (CI 95%: 1074.9–3757.9). Out of 49 detected bacterial strains, 20 strains were Gram-negative and 29 Gram-positive. Bacillus was the most frequent genes detected in inlet and outlet water samples. Most of the identified bacterial strains were opportunistic pathogens potentially dangerous for immunocompromised population. HPC population in PoU units significantly can be increased during a one-month period of operation, so replacement of the filters must be done regularly.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD) (Elite grant No.: 958403).

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, PO Box 1579461357, Ahvaz, Iran

    Nastaran Talepour & Neamat Jaafarzadeh Haghighi Fard

  2. Center for Water Quality Research (CWQR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, PO Box 1417993361, Tehran, Iran

    Mahdi Hadi, Simin Nasseri, Alireza Mesdaghinia & Saeedeh Hemmati Borji

  3. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, PO Box 1417613151, Tehran, Iran

    Simin Nasseri & Alireza Mesdaghinia

  4. Environmental Technologies Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, PO Box 6135715751, Ahvaz, Iran

    Neamat Jaafarzadeh Haghighi Fard

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  1. Nastaran Talepour
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  2. Mahdi Hadi
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  3. Simin Nasseri
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Correspondence to Simin Nasseri or Neamat Jaafarzadeh Haghighi Fard.

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Talepour, N., Hadi, M., Nasseri, S. et al. Isolation, identification and reviewing the health effect of HPC bacteria in household point-of-use (PoU) water treatment devices: a case study, Ahvaz, Iran. J Environ Health Sci Engineer (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-020-00577-7

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Keywords

  • Bacterial identification
  • Drinking water
  • HPC bacteria
  • Point-of-use (PoU)
  • Water treatment
  • Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)