Groundwater quality analyses in off‐grid tropical island

Abstract

Tropical islands typically have limited access to safe water. In many cases, people in these communities source their drinking water from groundwater without quality evaluation and treatment. Thus, we determined the physico‐chemical and microbial characteristics of groundwater samples. Results showed substantial non‐compliance of parameters including microbial quality with the local and World Health Organization quality standards for drinking water. Significant seasonal differences were observed for turbidity, total iron (Fe), colour, hardness, Escherichia coli and total coliforms (n = 88; p < 0.0203), whereas the effect of elevation has moderate‐to‐strong correlations with pH (r = 0.73, p < 0.001), total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity (r > −0.65, p < 0.001). The microbial profile revealed elevated levels up to a detectable limit of 5000 CFU/100 mL of E. coli. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis identified a potentially new strain with a 98.5% similarity to Shigella flexneri, having the presence of multidrug‐resistant and virulent genes.

Assessing the Relative Sustainability of Point-of-Use Water Disinfection Technologies for Off-Grid Communities

“…Demographic (household size), water quality (E. coli, turbidity, hardness), and energy (electricity cost and GWP characterization factor) data were collected from 10 different communities. These communities include two from Africa (Kampala, Uganda; 36,37 Limpopo, South Africa 38 ), two from Asia (Gunungkidul, Indonesia; 39 Panobolon Island, Philippines 40 ), four from North America (Colonias, United States; 41,42 Navajo Nation, United States; 11 Les Anglais, Haiti; 43 Oaxaca, Mexico 44 ), and two from South America (Santa Cruz, Bolivia; 45 Antioquia, Colombia 46 ). The collected data were then used in TEA and LCA to obtain locationspecific cost and GWP (Table S7).…”