Abstract
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, “safe drinking-water must not represent any significant risk to health over a lifetime of consumption, including different sensitivities that may occur between life stages”. Traditional methods of water analysis are usually complex, time consuming and require an appropriately equipped laboratory, specialized personnel and expensive instrumentation. The aim of this work was to apply an alternative method, the Micro Biological Survey (MBS), to analyse for contaminants in drinking water. Preliminary experiments were carried out to demonstrate the linearity and accuracy of the MBS method and to verify the possibility of using the evaluation of total coliforms in 1 mL of water as a sufficient parameter to roughly though accurately determine water microbiological quality. The MBS method was then tested “on field” to assess the microbiological quality of water sources in the city of Douala (Cameroon, Central Africa). Analyses were performed on both dug and drilled wells in different periods of the year. Results confirm that the MBS method appears to be a valid and accurate method to evaluate the microbiological quality of many water sources and it can be of valuable aid in developing countries.
Highlights
Water is a complex and fragile element for both ecosystem and resources
This paper demonstrates the possibility of successfully using the Micro Biological Survey (MBS) method for a simplified and effective microbiological analysis of drinking water
The first part of the study was developed to demonstrate that in naturally contaminated water samples, the analysis with the MBS method of total coliforms present in 1 mL of water is a reliable measure for general assessment of microbiological contamination of water
Summary
Availability and access to safe drinking water is essential for human health and constitutes a basic right for all. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines “safe drinking-water must not represent any significant risk to health over a lifetime of consumption, including different sensitivities that may occur between life stages” [1]. This minimum quality standard is far from being reached, in developing countries where water-borne diseases represent one of the first causes of death, especially of infants and young children. A good environmental monitoring system, operating within a robust legislative framework, is an essential prerequisite to identify sources of contaminants and build strategies to prevent these contaminants from entering into water sources that may be used for human consumption
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