MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION OF THE DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM IN SUCEAVA COUNTY, ROMANIA - THREE YEARS OF MONITORING (2010-2012)

Abstract

The  microbiological  quality  of  drinking  water  has  attracted  great  attention worldwide because of implied public health impacts. Monitoring and control technologies are indispensable  for  the production of safe drinking  water. They allow  for  the  surveillance  of source water quality and the detection of biological and chemical threats, thus defining the boundary  conditions  for  the  subsequent  treatment  and  providing early  warning  in  case  of unexpected  contamination.  The  aim  of  this  study  was  to  monitor  the  water  distribution stations  in  Suceava  County  and  to  better  understand  if  the modernization  projects  were successfully implemented. The results showed that microbiological contamination incidence
during three years monitoring was low and in some cases there were no relation between the sample-detected  out  of   line   for   chlorine  analysis   and   microbiological   contamination
incidence. This suggests, as a particular case, that underground water in Berchisesti area is microbiologically pure. However, a relatively low and constant incidence of microbiological contamination  between  1-3%  was  recorded  during 2010-2012,  among  the  investigated samples.  The  samples  founded  out  of  line  for  chlorine  treatment,  meaning  insufficient treatment, recorded an average of about 25% during the same period.