Abstract
Running water habitats are among the most altered aquatic systems by human activities driving an increase in the organic components and the associated bacterial load as well. To contribute in improving the monitoring activities in running waters, here we tested the validity of the new Micro Biological Survey (MBS) method to specifically assess the bacterial load in running waters focusing on Total Viable Counts (at 22°C and 37°C) and Escherichia coli (at 44°C) in order to propose a new prognostic tool for watercourses. MBS method is an alternative colorimetric method for counting bacterial load in water and food samples that is easy to use and leads to a reliable and simple interpretation of results, being also faster and less expensive than traditional methods. Then, we compared MBS with the traditionally used reference method for the bacterial load, and with the most used biotic index for Italian watercourses based on the benthic invertebrates: the Extended Biotic Index (EBI). The last comparison was performed to validate the use of MBS in biomonitoring activities since the benthic invertebrate multi-species assemblage (and then EBI) alter own structure mainly depending on the organic component variation. During the first part of the study, the assessment of both linearity (regressions among bacterial concentrations) and accuracy (significant correlation between a measured value and a value used as reference) confirmed the validity of the MBS method. Second, the linear regressions between the three investigated microbial parameters vs. both physical-chemical descriptors and EBI, revealed the usefulness of MBS as a valid tool for routine microbiological analyses involved in rapid and easy field monitoring activities. This represents the first attempt to evaluate the river microbial status by exploiting the innovative MBS on running waters to propose it as new valuable monitoring tool in the biomonitoring field.
Highlights
Inland waters are vital and vulnerable ecosystems that are critical for the sustenance of life globally
The analysis of water samples directly collected from rivers was performed as previously described using both the Micro Biological Survey (MBS) method and the reference method for the determination of the parameters heterotrophic bacteria count at 22 ̊C and 37 ̊C and E. coli
Accuracy is the degree of correspondence between the response obtained by the reference method and the response obtained by the alternative method on identical sample (ISO 16140)
Summary
Inland waters are vital and vulnerable ecosystems that are critical for the sustenance of life globally. The wastewater treatment systems may decrease the organic contaminant concentration in watercourses, to date the great challenge is to prevent detrimental habitat exposures For these reasons, the maintenance of healthy aquatic ecosystem throughout exploiting interdisciplinary approaches (the latter being widely stimulated by specific requirements of the Water Framework Directive–WFD 2000/60) represents a major concern in the environmental monitoring field [e.g. 9–13]. The maintenance of healthy aquatic ecosystem throughout exploiting interdisciplinary approaches (the latter being widely stimulated by specific requirements of the Water Framework Directive–WFD 2000/60) represents a major concern in the environmental monitoring field [e.g. 9–13] To date the latter is mainly based on the plant and animal biological diversity (by applying biotic indices) and physical-chemical properties. It is important for use-related purposes such as drinking water production, irrigation and recreation [1]
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