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IS TAP WATER SAFE TO CONSUME?

 By: Elizabeth Juarez

One essential component in the daily routine of people is tap water. Its many uses like cooking or drinking, make it important for the survival of humans. Therefore, the water quality of tap water can improve or deteriorate human health. Tap water is disinfected and sterilized before it reaches the homes of many people; however, in this process not all microorganisms are eliminated. Opportunistic pathogens are an emerging public health threat because they can cause diseases affecting people with immunodeficiency. A recent study in the Yangtze River, China, shows  the diversity of opportunistic pathogens in tap water, and how antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs) are related to these pathogens. In this study, 26 tap water samples were collected from 13 cities along the middle and low reaches of the Yangtze River. The results showed 8 opportunistic pathogens in tap water: Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus parasuis, Haemophilus influenzae, Helicobacter pylori, Mycoplasma pneumonia, and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Out of these 8 species, only 4 were found to have a positive relation with ARGs and MRGs. Moreover, it was found that more developed areas had lower abundance of opportunistic pathogens than less developed areas. These results are important to study the water quality of tap water. It calls for a more innovative water treatment to eliminate all possible microorganisms that can cause diseases. If this issue is not addressed, the water quality in tap water will decline and it will be useless for consumption. Improving the water treatment is an excellent option for a more sustainable world. 


  The graph shows the relative abundance of the opportunistic pathogens found in the 13 cities (Lohwacharin, 2020).

References:

Lohwacharin, J., Suyamud, B., Yang, Y., Zhang, W. 2020. Large-scale pattern of resistance genes and bacterial community in the tap water along the middle and low reaches of the Yangtze River. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111517 

Comments

  1. Daniel TrevinoNovember 16, 2020 at 9:17 PM

    Tap water is something that I drink on a daily basis, so the title immediately hooked me. The information presented gave me a chill down my spine and really has me contemplating now. Overall, I believe this article has very valuable information and is well written!

    ReplyDelete
  2. rodalcortaNovember 16, 2020 at 10:19 PM

    Very interesting article, since a similar a similar case of water pollution occurred some time ago here in Laredo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. M MendezNovember 30, 2020 at 3:52 PM

    The U.S. has used coliform counts since the 1990's as a biological indicator. The violation would be 1 coliform per 100 ml of drinking water. However, a number of violations are allowed. In particular, some organic and inorganic contaminants. I found this that maps counties in the U.S. and shows the number of violations. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/millions-americans-drink-potentially-unsafe-tap-water-how-does-your-county-stack AND, here is the research article that ran the assessment of violations in the U.S. https://www.pnas.org/content/115/9/2078.

    ReplyDelete

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