Abstract
According to Italian Ministerial Decree No. 185 of 12 June 2003, water is considered suitable for irrigation if levels of fecal bacteria (i.e., Escherichia coli and Salmonella) are within certain parameters. The detection of other microorganisms is not required. The aim of this study is to determine the bacteriological quality of groundwater used for irrigation and the occurrence of enteric viruses (Norovirus, Enterovirus, Rotavirus, Hepatovirus A), and to compare the presence of viruses with the fecal bacteria indicators. A total of 182 wells was analyzed. Widespread fecal contamination of Apulian aquifers was detected (141 wells; 77.5%) by the presence of fecal bacteria (i.e., E. coli, Salmonella, total coliforms, and enterococci). Considering bacteria included in Ministerial Decree No. 185, the water from 35 (19.2%) wells was unsuitable for irrigation purposes. Among 147 wells with water considered suitable, Norovirus, Rotavirus, and Enterovirus were detected in 23 (15.6%) wells. No Hepatovirus A was isolated. Consequently, 58 wells (31.9%) posed a potential infectious risk for irrigation use. This study revealed the inadequacy of fecal bacteria indicators to predict the occurrence of viruses in groundwater and it is the first in Italy to describe the presence of human rotaviruses in well water used for irrigation.
Highlights
In the last few years, many waterborne diseases from contaminated groundwater have been reported in countries at all levels of economic development, with outbreaks that result in large socioeconomic impacts [1,2,3]
Indicator bacteria were found in 233 samples (64%) collected from 141 wells (77.5%)
Among the 27 samples that tested positive for at least one type of virus, 18 (66.7%) samples were positive for Noroviruses, 5 (18.5%) for Rotavirus, and 4 (15.8%) for Enterovirus
Summary
In the last few years, many waterborne diseases from contaminated groundwater have been reported in countries at all levels of economic development, with outbreaks that result in large socioeconomic impacts [1,2,3]. As with other aquatic matrices, groundwater can be contaminated by microorganisms that originate from human activities (urban, industrial, and agricultural) and are released into the environment through direct discharge, insufficiently treated wastewater, leaking sewage, and septic systems [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. For these reasons, groundwater quality becomes extremely important for human consumption or irrigation purpose. Public Health 2017, 14, 558; doi:10.3390/ijerph14060558 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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