Screening of faecal coliforms and heavy metals in water from the in-situ commercial water fitration dispensers in Skudai, Johor Bahru

Abstract

Due to easy access and hot weather conditions, consumption of filtered water from in-situ commercial water filtration dispensers is gaining popularity in many tropical countries including Malaysia. In Malaysia, these water filtration dispensers have been scarcely regulated by the relevant health authorities and mostly left in-situ without suitable surveillance and maintenance. Therefore, the compliance of the filtered water produced by these dispensers with that of the prevailing standards for drinkable water remains unclear. Hence, this present preliminary research that screened for the potential presence of faecal coliforms (a microbial indicator for drinkable water quality) and common heavy metals (lead, copper, manganese, zinc, and iron) in filtered water samples from 30 in-situ commercial water filtration dispensers around UTM Johor Campus acquires significance. 19 of the dispensers were appropriately maintained, while the remaining 11 were not. The possible presence of faecal coliforms was detected in 2 and 3 of the properly and poorly maintained dispensers, respectively. However, since the presence of these thermotolerant microorganisms has not been ascertained via Eosin-Methylene Blue agar and IMViC test, positive confirmation of such presence could not be made. While lead, manganese, and iron remained undetectable in all the dispensers, no significant differences in the concentrations of copper and zinc were observed between the properly and poorly maintained dispensers (P>0.05). Because minute concentrations of copper and zinc alone were found, the possibility of such contaminants being a health hazard can be ruled out. However, the fact that such water supplies may be contaminated by other types of heavy metals that may possibly be a health threat towards human health, further research in this aspect is required.