Abdolahnejad A, Kamali A, Mohammadi A, Shabanian E, Hajizadeh Y, Ebrahimi A et al . Determination of Microbial and Chemical Contamination of Potable Water Served in Passenger Buses: A Case Study in Soffeh Terminal, Isfahan, Iran. HSR 2017; 13 (3) :317-321
URL:
http://hsr.mui.ac.ir/article-1-959-en.html
1- PhD Candidate, Student Research Committee AND Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
2- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Deputy of Health , Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
3- Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences , Isfahan , Iran
4- PhD Candidate, Student Research Committee AND Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences , Isfahan , Iran
Abstract: (784 Views)
Background: Today, interurban buses play an important role in transferring passengers between cities. Contaminated drinking water in buses will threaten the health of travelers. This study investigated the microbial and chemical quality of drinking water supplied in the coaches transporting passengers from/to Soffeh Terminal in Isfahan, Iran.Methods: In this study, 60 samples of potable water supplied in the coaches were randomly collected. Bacterial contamination of the samples was examined using most probable number (MPN) method through multiple tube method. Chemical parameters including lectrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness, chlorine, turbidity, pH, and temperature were measured according to the standard methods. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.Findings: The results showed that total coliform and fecal coliform were positive in 20% and 7% of the samples, respectively, and all contaminations were related to water dispensers. About 35% of the samples had EC levels of higher than the recommended standard (500 µmhos/cm2). The turbidity value was higher than 1 Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) in 11.6% of the samples and residual chlorine was 0 in 98.3% of the samples.Conclusion: This study showed that most samples of potable water served to the passengers via chillers installed in the coaches were contaminated with fecal coliforms. However, this pollution was not observed in the bottled potable water available inside the coaches. Thus, collecting the tap equipped-chillers and supplying only bottled potable water in all the coaches can prevent intestinal diseases in passengers.
Type of Study:
Research |
Subject:
education health and promotion Received: 2020/07/16 | Accepted: 2017/10/15 | Published: 2017/10/15