Rapid determination of bacteria in drinking water using an ATP assay

Abstract

The presently used heterotrophic plate count (HPC) for the evaluation of the total number of bacteria in a sample of drinking water takes 7 days of incubation. When the results are known, the water has been consumed and is ineffective for the protection of the health of the consumers. Operators of water treatment systems need to know the bacterial water quality in near real time. Contamination of the system, whether it is intentional, accidental, or due to an inadequate disinfectant residual needs to be discovered much sooner because intervention can then take place in the form of flushing low quality water and/or raising the disinfectant residual. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine if a rapid ATP assay can estimate the HPC in minutes. Two additional methods were used for some samples. The first method was the acridine orange direct count (AODC) that enumerates both viable and nonviable bacteria. The second method was the direct viable count (DVC) that enumerates only viable bacteria. Water samples were obtained from local, national, and international locations. The sample selection criteria were based on proximity to the laboratory, cooperating water utilities, and the travel of the authors. The results of the study show that the rapid ATP assay is highly correlated with the conventional plate count method and the DVC method. The significance of the ATP assay is that it can determine the bacterial quality of the drinking water in less than 5 min.

Detection of Viable Bacteria during Sludge Ozonation by the Combination of ATP Assay with PMA-Miseq Sequencing

“…On the contrary, the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence assay, based on the direct proportionality of ATP to viable biomass, can provide a more accurate estimate of the total active biomass in a sample than the CFU method [7,11,12]. The ATP assay, mainly used in monitoring microbiological drinking water quality [12][13][14], allows an estimation of bacterial populations within minutes and can be done on-site, which is particularly suitable for assessing the reduction of viable bacteria during activated sludge ozonation, but the use of the ATP assay for this application has not yet been reported. As for the change in bacterial community composition, a loss of bacterial diversity was found with the increase of ozone dosage by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) [5].…”

Evaluation of ATP measurements to detect microbial ingress by wastewater and surface water in drinking water

“…Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) measurements provides results within minutes (Deininger and Lee, 2001;Delahaye et al, 2003;van der Wielen & van der Kooij, 2010) and is one of several approaches Stedmon et al, 2011) which currently are being investigated as a potential parameter for evaluating the microbial quality of drinking water. Continuous sampling combined with real-time analysis such as ATP would significantly improve surveillance of microbial drinking water quality and provide an early warning system, thus allowing health authorities and managers to react in a timely manner.…”

Using ATP tests for assessment of hygiene risks

“…On the other hand, it can be influenced by autotrophic bacteria (nitrifying, iron, sulphur and manganese ones) that make the filter bed biofilm. Recent studies demonstrate the use of the ATP assay to determine hazards related to the formation of biofilm on water pipe walls [18,[43][44][45].…”