Swimming pools have been identified as posing some public health risks to users due to either bacterial or chemical contamination. As a result, maintaining good swimming pool water quality is an important issue in preventing health risks for bathers. This study aimed to evaluate the bacteriological quality of some swimming pools in Alexandria and to investigate the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in water samples. A total of 120 water samples from 10 swimming pools were collected. Bacteriological analysis included heterotrophic plate count (HPC) using pour plate method; enumeration of total coliforms (TC), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and S. aureus by membrane filtration technique. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed on isolated S. aureus. Residual chlorine and pH were measured at swimming pools side. HPC was the least complying microbial parameter, followed by TC. S. aureus was recovered from 18 samples; 9 isolates were methicillin resistant S.aureus (MRSA), compared to E. coli that was detected in 7 samples. HPC and TC showed statistically significant correlations with all investigated parameters. In conclusion, the examined pools showed poor quality regarding all examined parameters collectively according to the Egyptian guidelines, which necessitates implementation of proper measures to ensure safer environment in swimming pools.

Introduction Dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) are notorious for being contaminated with different bacterial species including the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa which poses a risk to patients and professionals. This work aimed at studying the occurrence and biofilm-forming ability (BFA) of P. aeruginosa in the output of DUWLs in a dental center in Egypt. Methods Water samples were collected from the outlets of the high-speed hand piece, the air/water syringe and the cup filler waterlines. Bacteriological analysis included heterotrophic plate count (HPC), isolation and identification of P. aeruginosa and determination of the antimicrobial susceptibility and the BFA of the isolates by tissue culture plate (TCP) method and tube method (TM).Results The average concentration of HPC bacteria in the output of the 3 DUWLs was 2.9×10 4 CFU/mL where 88.3% of the samples exceeded the Egyptian standards for drinking water (˂50 CFU/mL). P. aeruginosa was isolated from nine cup filler samples (which had a water source different from the other waterlines). The isolates were sensitive to all tested antimicrobials. Of these nine isolates, 6, 5 and 4 were positive for BFA by TCP, modified TCP and TM, respectively.Conclusions More stringent measures are required to ensure safer dental water; as the majority of studied samples exceeded the required HPC bacterial limit and P. aeruginosa isolates were detected. P. aeruginosa isolates from DUWLs may not be as resistant to antibiotics as what is reported in the literature about clinical isolates. Some P. aeruginosa isolates can colonize DUWLs despite their inability to form biofilms in experimental testing.

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