Abstract
To understand distributions of opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) and microbial community structures governed by sample location, pipe materials, water temperature, age of property and type of house, 29 biofilm samples obtained from faucets, pipes, and shower heads in different households in Singapore were examined using next-generation sequencing technology. Predictive functional profiling of the biofilm communities was also performed to understand the potential of uncultivated microorganisms in premise plumbing systems and their involvement in various metabolic pathways. Microbial community analysis showed Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, Nitrospira, and Actinobacteria to be the most abundant phyla across the samples which was found to be significantly different when grouped by age of the properties, location, and the type of house. Meanwhile, opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens such as Mycobacterium, Citrobacter, Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Methylobacterium were observed from the samples at 0.5% of the total reads. Functional prediction using 16S gene markers revealed the involvement of the biofilm communities in different metabolic pathways like nitrogen metabolism, biodegradation of xenobiotics, and bacterial secretion implying diverse functionalities that are yet to be studied in this environment. This study serves as a preliminary survey on the microbial communities harboring premise plumbing systems in a tropical region like Singapore.
Highlights
Premise plumbing refers to the portion of the potable water distribution system connected to the main distribution system via service lines, including both hot and cold water and devices such as water heaters, showers, faucets and filters (Wang et al )
The predominance of Proteobacteria is consistent with previous reports of microbial communities from biofilm samples collected from water distribution and plumbing systems (Eichler et al ; Hong et al ; Pinto et al )
Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes are usually found alongside Proteobacteria in biofilms from natural sources such as stone surfaces and biofilms collected from lakes and seawater and engineered systems like activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants and drinking water distribution systems (Revetta et al ; De Sotto et al )
Summary
Premise plumbing refers to the portion of the potable water distribution system connected to the main distribution system via service lines, including both hot and cold water and devices such as water heaters, showers, faucets and filters (Wang et al ). Premise plumbing systems differ from the public water supply networks mainly due to conditions such as surface area, low disinfectant residues, periodical flow of water creating a more favourable and ideal niche for microbial growth Presence of microorganisms in residential plumbing systems such as shower heads, faucets, and pipes and how several factors such as pipe material and water temperature affect prevalence of these organisms have been reported in previous studies (Rhoads et al ; Proctor et al ) These microbial communities were found thriving either in suspended form or as biofilms attached on surfaces with the latter gaining more attention due to their accumulation through time (Buse et al ; Wang et al a; Proctor & Hammes )
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