Alternative Microbial Indicators of Faecal Pollution
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Iran. J. Environ. Health. Sci. Eng., 2006, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 205-216 ALTERNATIVE MICROBIAL INDICATORS OF FAECAL POLLUTION: CURRENT PERSPECTIVE 1V. K. Tyagi, *2A. K. Chopra, 1A. A. Kazmi, 1Arvind Kumar 1Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee- 247 667, INDIA 2Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Gurukula Kangri University, Hardwar -249 404 , INDIA Received 10 March 2005; revised 15 May 2006; accepted 18 June 2006 ABSTRACT Worldwide coliform bacteria are used as indicators of fecal contamination and hence, the possible presence of disease causing organisms. Therefore, it is important to understand the potential and limitations of these indicator organisms before realistically implementing guidelines and regulations to safeguard our water resources and public health. This review addresses the limitations of current faecal indicator microorganisms and proposed significant alternative microbial indicators of water and wastewater quality. The relevant literature brings out four such significant microbial water pollution indicators and the study of these indicators will reveal the total spectrum of water borne pathogens. As E.coli and enterococci indicates the presence of bacterial pathogens, Coliphages indicate the presence of enteric viruses, and Clostridium perfringens, an obligate anaerobe, indicates presence of parasitic on Friday, August 24, 2012 protozoan and enteric viruses. Therefore, monitoring a suite of indicator organisms in reclaimed effluent is more likely to be predictive of the presence of certain pathogens in order to protect public health, as no single indicator is most highly predictive of membership in the presence or absence category for pathogens. Key words: Indicator microorganisms, E.coli, fecal coliforms, coliphages, clostridium perfringens http://journals.tums.ac.ir/ INTRODUCTION During the early history of various countries, humans). The reduction of microbiological pollution epidemics of diseases such as typhoid, shigellosis, in wastewater has not been a priority so far in cholera and amoebiasis were common threats. It developing country and at present there are no was subsequently determined that the primary directives regarding the microbiological quality of source of these pathogens was sewage. The treated wastewater. However, the direct and Downloaded from environmental bodies receives a significant amount indirect exposure of population to sewage is of of treated, partially treated or untreated sewage, primary concern (Koivunen et al., 2003). The which severely depletes the water quality of these increasing demography and the growing water water bodies used for drinking, irrigation and other demand has lead to a global deterioration of recreational purposes. The wastewater effluents surface waters quality and in areas facing a water are the major source of fecal contamination of shortage, more and more reclaimed water will be aquatic ecosystems and cause severe disturbance used in the future for irrigation of parks and crops. in their functioning. A major goal of wastewater Thus, the need to determine the microbiological reclamation facilities is to reduce pathogen load in safety of these waters by analyzing them for the order to decrease public health risks associated presence of specific pathogens and the increasing with exposure. Despite the fact that raw wastewater efforts are devoted at present to assessing the also carries large quantities and a wide variety of treatment efficiency of wastewater treatment fecal microorganisms (including pathogens for facilities for removal of indicator microbes of fecal *Corresponding author-Email: [email protected] origin (George et al., 2002; Kazmi et al., 2006). It Tel: +91 1334 245940, Fax: +91 1334 246811 has been proved that the conventional indicators 205 V.Iran. K. J.Tyag Environ. i, et a l.,Health. ALTERNATIVE Sci. Eng., MICROBIAL 2006, Vol. 3,INDICATORS... No. 3, pp. 205-216 of fecal origin i.e. coliform bacteria (total and fecal complex, qualitatively unreliable and do not ensure coliforms), used to evaluate microbiological quality complete safety of water for consumer. Therefore, of waters provide erroneous information. They do the approach is to select some unconventional not adequately reflect the occurrence of pathogens indicator microbes whose presence presumes that in disinfected wastewater effluent due to their contamination has occurred and suggests the relatively high susceptibility to chemical disinfection nature and extent of contaminants. and failure to correlate with protozoan parasites and enteric viruses (Harwood et al., 2005). As RESULTS well as, coliforms are generally considered The microorganisms associated with waterborne unreliable indicators of faecal contamination diseases (typhoid fever, cholera, shigellosis, because many are capable of growth in the hepatitis, jaundice fever, diarrhea, amoebiasis etc) environment. Thus, the public health is not found in polluted waters are several members of protected by using these common indicators (Total bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and helminthes coliform and fecal coliform), since methods for (Fecham et al., 1983) (Table 1 and Table 2). the detection of sewage borne pathogen become Table 1: Infectious agents potentially present in raw domestic wastewater (Hurst et al., 2002; Metcalf and Eddy, 2003) Agent Disease Clinical Symptoms Incubation Period Source on Friday, August 24, 2012 Bacteria Ecoli (enteropathogenic) Gastroenteritis Diarrhea 2-6 days Human feces High fever, diarrhea, Human feces and Salmonella typhi Typhoid fever 7-28 days ulceration of small intestine urine Urine from Leptospira Leptospirosis Jaundice or fever 2-20 days infected animals Shigella Shigellosis Bacillary Dysentery 1-7 days Human feces Extremely heavy diarrhea, Vibrio cholerae Cholera 9-72 hrs Human feces dehydration http://journals.tums.ac.ir/ Viruses Polio, Gastroenteritis, Paralytic disease, Enteroviruses Heart anomalies, 3-14 days Human feces respiratory illness. Meningitis Hepatitis A Infectious Hepatitis Jaundice, Fever, Anorexia 15-50 days Human feces Gastroenteritis with nausea Rota virus Acute Gastroenteritis 2-3 days Human feces and vomiting Protozoa Abdominal Pain with bloody Downloaded from Entamoeba histolytica Amoebiasis 2-4 weeks Human feces diarrhea Human and Giardia Lamblia Giardiasis Diarrhea, nausea, indigestion 5-25 days animal feces Human and Cryptosporidium parvum Cryptosporidiosis Diarrhea 1-2 weeks animal feces Table 2: Pathogens in wastewater (Yates, 1998) Public health effects due to microbial pollutants Organisms Number (L) in wastewater Salmonella 23-80000 (Epidemiological studies carried out in India) Shigella 10-10000 E.Coli Unknown The existence of large number of microorganisms Vibrio 10-100000 in raw wastewater is always of great concern to Leptospira Unknown Polio Virus 182-492000 water treatment authorities. Millions of people die Rota virus 400-85000 every year in different part of the world due to Hepatitis A Unknown waterborne diseases. Some epidemiological study Giardia lamblia 530-100000 Entamoeba histolytica 4 data of major waterborne disease outbreaks i.e. Cryptosporidium 5-5180 obtained after extensive literature review is being 206 Iran. J. Environ. Health. Sci. Eng., 2006, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 205-216 provided. (vi) Enteric Fever (i) Typhoid Fever An out breaks at Maharashtra (India), around 415 The disease is endemic in almost all part of the individual were affected, and all of them presented country with periodic outbreaks of water born or with enteric fever. This was attributed to fecal food born disease. In India (1992), about 3, 52,980 contamination of water. Poor sanitation facilities cases with 735 deaths were reported. In 1993 the and waste disposal mechanism can therefore be number was 3, 57,452 cases and 888 death, seen as one of the main contributing factors of whereas in 1994, about 2, 78,451 cases and 304 almost all water born diseases (Kulkarni et al., 1996). death due to typhoid fever reported. (vii) Gastroenteritis (ii) Malaria Gastroenteritis poses a serious health threat to An overall 1.87 million cases of malaria and 1006 Indian communities. In the state of Orissa alone, deaths were reported from the country in 2003. there are approximately 300 infant deaths per day In 2004, largest number of cases in the country as a result of waterborne gastrointestinal diseases. were reported from Orissa, followed by Gujrat, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, U.P., (viii) Cholera Rajasthan and the largest number of death were In August 1993, an outbreak of cholera was reported from Orissa, followed by West Bengal, reported in India, Thailand, and Bangladesh. A year Mizoram, Assam, Meghalaya, Karnataka, and later, the cholera epidemic continues to be a on Friday, August 24, 2012 Tripura. problem in India — in the state of Bihar between (iii) Hepatitis the months of May and August 1994, approximately Out break of hepatitis are more common, with 2200 people died from cholera (Times of India, 1994). around 60,000 cases reported in the United States each year. These outbreaks will occur due to poor (ix) Leptospirosis water supply and sanitary facilities. Waterborne diseases spreading like epidemic after (iv) Amoebic dysentery massive rain fall in Western India – Mumbai. Protozoan infection can be serious nonetheless, Water supply completely polluted – more than 300 http://journals.tums.ac.ir/ as illustrated by an epidemic in Chicago in 1933 in die (Aug.16, 2005). More than 6,000 patients which over 1400