Enteric Viruses and Fecal Bacteria Indicators to Assess Groundwater Quality and Suitability for Irrigation

Osvalda De Giglio, Giuseppina Caggiano, Francesco Bagordo, Giovanna Barbuti, Silvia Brigida, Federica Lugoli, Tiziana Grassi, Giuseppina La Rosa, Luca Lucentini, Vito Felice Uricchio, Antonella De Donno and Maria Teresa Montagna
Additional contact information
Osvalda De Giglio: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Giuseppina Caggiano: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Francesco Bagordo: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Via per Monteroni, Campus Ecotekne, Monteroni di Lecce, 73047 Lecce, Italy
Giovanna Barbuti: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Silvia Brigida: Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Viale Francesco de Blasio 5, 70132 Bari, Italy
Federica Lugoli: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Via per Monteroni, Campus Ecotekne, Monteroni di Lecce, 73047 Lecce, Italy
Tiziana Grassi: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Via per Monteroni, Campus Ecotekne, Monteroni di Lecce, 73047 Lecce, Italy
Giuseppina La Rosa: National Institute of Health, Department of Environment and Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00100 Rome, Italy
Luca Lucentini: National Institute of Health, Department of Environment and Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00100 Rome, Italy
Vito Felice Uricchio: Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Viale Francesco de Blasio 5, 70132 Bari, Italy
Antonella De Donno: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Via per Monteroni, Campus Ecotekne, Monteroni di Lecce, 73047 Lecce, Italy
Maria Teresa Montagna: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-13

Abstract: According to Italian Ministerial Decree No. 185 of 12 June 2003, water is considered suitable for irrigation if levels of fecal bacteria (i.e., Escherichia coli and Salmonella ) are within certain parameters. The detection of other microorganisms is not required. The aim of this study is to determine the bacteriological quality of groundwater used for irrigation and the occurrence of enteric viruses (Norovirus, Enterovirus, Rotavirus, Hepatovirus A), and to compare the presence of viruses with the fecal bacteria indicators. A total of 182 wells was analyzed. Widespread fecal contamination of Apulian aquifers was detected (141 wells; 77.5%) by the presence of fecal bacteria (i.e., E. coli , Salmonella , total coliforms, and enterococci). Considering bacteria included in Ministerial Decree No. 185, the water from 35 (19.2%) wells was unsuitable for irrigation purposes. Among 147 wells with water considered suitable, Norovirus, Rotavirus, and Enterovirus were detected in 23 (15.6%) wells. No Hepatovirus A was isolated. Consequently, 58 wells (31.9%) posed a potential infectious risk for irrigation use. This study revealed the inadequacy of fecal bacteria indicators to predict the occurrence of viruses in groundwater and it is the first in Italy to describe the presence of human rotaviruses in well water used for irrigation.

Keywords: groundwater pollution; irrigation; wells; Norovirus; Rotavirus; Enterovirus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/6/558/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/6/558/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:6:p:558-:d:99533

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().