Investigation of the Physical, Chemical Characteristics and Microbial Contamination of the Indoor Swimming Pools

Abstract

ÖZAmaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı kapalı yüzme havuzlarının fiziksel, kimyasal ve mikrobiyolojik kirlenmelerini araştırmaktır. Yöntemler: Havuz suyu örnekleri plastik polipropilen sterilize edilmiş bir şişe kullanılarak toplandı. Suların fiziksel ve kimyasal özellikleri, suyun incelenmesinde kullanılan standart yöntemler ile sıcaklık, bulanıklık, pH ve serbest artık klor açısından analiz edildi. Havuz sularında bakteriyolojik (rutin yöntemler) ve parazitolojik (moleküler yöntemler) çalışmalar yapılmıştır. Bulgular: Kapalı havuzların sıcaklık, pH ve artık klor ortalamaları sırasıyla 31,2 °C, 7,6 ve 1,5 mg/L idi. Havuzların hiçbirinde bulanıklık gözlenmedi. PH ve sıcaklık değerleri yüzme havuzlarının sırasıyla %92,3 ve %15,4'ünde istenilen aralıktaydı. Yüzme havuzlarında suyun bakteriyel ve amipli kirlenme sıklığı sırasıyla %53,8 ve %46,2'dir. Bir havuz (%7,7) hem bakteri hem de amip ile kirlenmiştir. Streptococcus viridans, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Cryptosporidium spp. ve Bacillus spp. havuz sularından izole edilmiştir. Sonuç: Bu çalışmada, su havuzlarından bazı mikroorganizmalar tanımlanmıştır. Yüzme havuzlarının etkin yönetimi ve su havuzlarının fiziksel, kimyasal ve mikrobiyolojik özelliklerinin uygun şekilde kontrolü sağlıklı rekreasyon aktivitesini sağlayabilir.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the physical, chemical and microbiological contamination of indoor swimming pools.Methods: Pool water specimens were collected using a plastic polypropylene sterilized bottle. The physical and chemical qualities of the waters were analyzed in terms of temperature, turbidity, pH, and free residual chlorine, with the standard methods for the examination of water. Bacteriological (routine methods) and parasitological (molecular methods) tests were carried out on pools water. Results:The mean temperature, pH, and residual chlorine of the indoor pools were 31.2 °C, 7.6 and 1.5 mg/L, respectively.Turbidity was not observed in any of the pools. The pH and temperature values were in standard ranges in 92.3% and 15.4% of the waters of swimming pools, respectively. The prevalence rates of bacterial and amoebic contaminations of the water in the swimming pools were 53.8% and 46.2%, respectively. One pool (7.7%) was contaminated with both bacteria and amoeba. Streptococcus viridans, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Cryptosporidium and Bacillus spp. were isolated from the pool waters. Conclusion:In this study, some microorganisms were identified from the water pools. Effective management of swimming pools and proper control of the physical, chemical and microbiological property of water pools can produce the healthy recreational activity.

Environmental surveillance of fungi and susceptibility to antifungal agents in tertiary care hospitals

“…Fungi are abundant in our surroundings but few are capable of causing infection in humans. There have been reports on the presence of fungi in public places and hospitals ( 18 – 20 ). Exposure to environmental fungi in immunocompromised patients can cause subclinical to severe fungal infections ( 21 , 22 ).…”

Evaluation of the occurrence of pathogenic free‐living amoeba and bacteria in 20 public indoor swimming pool facilities

“…Vibrio cholerae is capable to multiply internally; and Legionella or Listeria produce an amoeba cell lysis after multiplication (Ben Salah et al, 2009;Moliner et al, 2010;Thomas et al, 2010). Although the growing body of evidence on their toxic and disinfection-resistant characteristics and some recent studies reporting a positive detection of FLA in swimming pools (Abdul-Majid et al, 2017;Ghasemi et al, 2019;Papadopoulou et al, 2008;Poor et al, 2018), at the time, the evaluation of the presence of FLA (and internalized bacteria) is not included in the national and international swimming pool sanitary surveillance programs. To be able to determine the need for inclusion of FLA in water quality assessment plans, further studies are needed to better understand the prevalence of FLA in swimming pool environments and its putative impact on health.…”