Die-off of E. coli as fecal indicator organism on different surfaces after urban floods.

J Environ Manage

Environmental Engineering & Water Technology Department, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, P.O. Box 3015, 2601 DA, Delft, the Netherlands; Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, 2629 HZ, Delft, the Netherlands. Electronic address:

Published: November 2019

A better understanding of the effects of different urban and recreational surfaces on the die-off of water-borne pathogens that can cause infections after urban floods if released from surcharged combined sewers and other sources of fecal contamination is needed. The die-off of fecal indicator Escherichia coli was studied under controlled exposure to simulated sunlight on a range of different surfaces found in urban environments: gravel, sand, asphalt, pavement blocks, concrete, playground rubber tiles and grass, using glass as control. The surfaces were inoculated with artificial flooding water containing 10 colony forming units (CFU) of E. coli per mL and sampled periodically using the sterile cotton swab technique, after lowering the water level. The results show that dark inactivation was not statistically significant for any surface, suggesting that chemical composition and pH (varying between 6.5 ± 0.8 and 9.2 ± 0.4) did not affect the die-off rates. The highest light-induced die-off rates for E. coli after the floodwater recession, observed on rubber (>3.46 h) and asphalt (2.7 h), were attributed to temperature stress and loss of surface moisture.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109516DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

fecal indicator
8
surfaces urban
8
urban floods
8
die-off rates
8
die-off
5
die-off coli
4
coli fecal
4
indicator organism
4
surfaces
4
organism surfaces
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!