Dataset Information

Interactive Effects of Copper Pipe, Stagnation, Corrosion Control, and Disinfectant Residual Influenced Reduction of Legionella pneumophila during Simulations of the Flint Water Crisis.

ABSTRACT: Flint, MI experienced two outbreaks of Legionnaires' Disease (LD) during the summers of 2014 and 2015, coinciding with use of Flint River as a drinking water source without corrosion control. Using simulated distribution systems (SDSs) followed by stagnant simulated premise (i.e., building) plumbing reactors (SPPRs) containing cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) or copper pipe, we reproduced trends in water chemistry and Legionella proliferation observed in the field when Flint River versus Detroit water were used before, during, and after the outbreak. Specifically, due to high chlorine demand in the SDSs, SPPRs with treated Flint River water were chlorine deficient and had elevated L. pneumophila numbers in the PEX condition. SPPRs with Detroit water, which had lower chlorine demand and higher residual chlorine, lost all culturable L. pneumophila within two months. L. pneumophila also diminished more rapidly with time in Flint River SPPRs with copper pipe, presumably due to the bacteriostatic properties of elevated copper concentrations caused by lack of corrosion control and stagnation. This study confirms hypothesized mechanisms by which the switch in water chemistry, pipe materials, and different flow patterns in Flint premise plumbing may have contributed to observed LD outbreak patterns.

SUBMITTER: Martin RL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7559348 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Interactive Effects of Copper Pipe, Stagnation, Corrosion Control, and Disinfectant Residual Influenced Reduction of <i>Legionella pneumophila</i> during Simulations of the Flint Water Crisis.

Martin Rebekah L RL Strom Owen R OR Pruden Amy A Edwards Marc A MA

Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) 20200904 9

Flint, MI experienced two outbreaks of Legionnaires' Disease (LD) during the summers of 2014 and 2015, coinciding with use of Flint River as a drinking water source without corrosion control. Using simulated distribution systems (SDSs) followed by stagnant simulated premise (i.e., building) plumbing reactors (SPPRs) containing cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) or copper pipe, we reproduced trends in water chemistry and <i>Legionella</i> proliferation observed in the field when Flint River versus D ...[more]

PMID: 32899686

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Project description:Several biotic and abiotic factors have been reported to influence the proliferation of microbes, including Legionella pneumophila, in hot water premise plumbing systems, but their combined effects have not been systematically evaluated. Here, we utilize simulated household water heaters to examine the effects of stepwise increases in temperature (32-53 °C), pipe material (copper vs. cross-linked polyethylene (PEX)), and influent assimilable organic carbon (0-700 ?g/L) on opportunistic pathogen gene copy numbers and the microbiota composition, as determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.Temperature had an overarching influence on both the microbiota composition and L. pneumophila numbers. L. pneumophila peaked at 41 °C in the presence of PEX (?1.58 × 105 gene copies/mL). At 53 °C, L. pneumophila was not detected. Several operational taxonomic units (OTUs) persisted across all conditions, accounting for 50% of the microbiota composition from 32 to 49 °C and 20% at 53 °C. Pipe material most strongly influenced microbiota composition at lower temperatures, driven by five to six OTUs enriched with each material. Copper pipes supported less L. pneumophila than PEX pipes (mean 2.5 log10 lower) at temperatures ??41 °C, but showed no difference in total bacterial numbers. Differences between pipe materials diminished with elevated temperature, probably resulting from decreased release of copper ions. At temperatures ??45 °C, influent assimilable organic carbon correlated well with total bacterial numbers, but not with L. pneumophila numbers. At 53 °C, PEX pipes leached organic carbon, reducing the importance of dosed organic carbon. L. pneumophila numbers correlated with a Legionella OTU and a Methylophilus OTU identified by amplicon sequencing.Temperature was the most effective factor for the control of L. pneumophila, while microbiota composition shifted with each stepwise temperature increase. While copper pipe may also help shape the microbiota composition and limit L. pneumophila proliferation, its benefits might be constrained at higher temperatures. Influent assimilable organic carbon affected total bacterial numbers, but had minimal influence on opportunistic pathogen gene numbers or microbiota composition. These findings provide guidance among multiple control measures for the growth of opportunistic pathogens in hot water plumbing and insight into the mediating role of microbial ecological factors.

Project description:Legionella pneumophila in potable water installations poses a potential health risk, but quantitative information about its replication in biofilms in relation to water quality is scarce. Therefore, biofilm formation on the surfaces of glass and chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) in contact with tap water at 34 to 39°C was investigated under controlled hydraulic conditions in a model system inoculated with biofilm-grown L. pneumophila The biofilm on glass (average steady-state concentration, 23 ± 9 pg ATP cm-2) exposed to treated aerobic groundwater (0.3 mg C liter-1; 1 μg assimilable organic carbon [AOC] liter-1) did not support growth of the organism, which also disappeared from the biofilm on CPVC (49 ± 9 pg ATP cm-2) after initial growth. L. pneumophila attained a level of 4.3 log CFU cm-2 in the biofilms on glass (1,055 ± 225 pg ATP cm-2) and CPVC (2,755 ± 460 pg ATP cm-2) exposed to treated anaerobic groundwater (7.9 mg C liter-1; 10 μg AOC liter-1). An elevated biofilm concentration and growth of L. pneumophila were also observed with tap water from the laboratory. The Betaproteobacteria Piscinibacter and Methyloversatilis and amoeba-resisting Alphaproteobacteria predominated in the clones and isolates retrieved from the biofilms. In the biofilms, the Legionella colony count correlated significantly with the total cell count (TCC), heterotrophic plate count, ATP concentration, and presence of Vermamoeba vermiformis This amoeba was rarely detected at biofilm concentrations of <100 pg ATP cm-2 A threshold concentration of approximately 50 pg ATP cm-2 (TCC = 1 × 106 to 2 × 106 cells cm-2) was derived for growth of L. pneumophila in biofilms.IMPORTANCELegionella pneumophila is the etiologic agent in more than 10,000 cases of Legionnaires' disease that are reported annually worldwide and in most of the drinking water-associated disease outbreaks reported in the United States. The organism proliferates in biofilms on surfaces exposed to warm water in engineered freshwater installations. An investigation with a test system supplied with different types of warm drinking water without disinfectant under controlled hydraulic conditions showed that treated aerobic groundwater (0.3 mg liter-1 of organic carbon) induced a low biofilm concentration that supported no or very limited growth of L. pneumophila Elevated biofilm concentrations and L. pneumophila colony counts were observed on surfaces exposed to two types of extensively treated groundwater, containing 1.8 and 7.9 mg C liter-1 and complying with the microbial water quality criteria during distribution. Control measures in warm tap water installations are therefore essential for preventing growth of L. pneumophila.

Dataset Information

Interactive Effects of Copper Pipe, Stagnation, Corrosion Control, and Disinfectant Residual Influenced Reduction of Legionella pneumophila during Simulations of the Flint Water Crisis.

Publications

Interactive Effects of Copper Pipe, Stagnation, Corrosion Control, and Disinfectant Residual Influenced Reduction of <i>Legionella pneumophila</i> during Simulations of the Flint Water Crisis.

Similar Datasets

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