Nadeem Nudrat, Nadeem Muhammad, Bostan Nazish, Sattar Sadia, Simm Roger, Javed Sundus
Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory, Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Environ Monit Assess. 2025 Apr 12;197(5):543. doi: 10.1007/s10661-025-13989-5.
Water filtration plants are a main source of drinking water for local populations in almost all big cities of Pakistan but these filtration plants are ineffective in eliminating contaminants from water. This study was conducted to evaluate water quality with specific focus on physicochemical parameters and bacterial contamination including occurrence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in drinking water collected from filtration plants (N = 64) of the twin cities of Pakistan. Physicochemical parameters were analyzed following American Public Health Association standard guidelines and total coliform count was determined using membrane filtration method. Gram-negative bacteria were isolated and characterized in terms of species and antibiotic susceptibility. Elevated levels of total dissolved solids, nitrates, total coliforms, lead and copper were found in several samples. Multivariate correlation coefficient revealed significant positive correlation between nitrate levels and total coliform count in bacteriologically contaminated samples. Antibiotic resistance patterns revealed multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant bacteria with high resistance against third generation cephalosporins. Our results highlight the urgent need for improved water filtration processes and regular monitoring to provide safe drinking water to the local community.
在巴基斯坦几乎所有大城市中，水过滤厂是当地居民饮用水的主要来源，但这些过滤厂在去除水中污染物方面效果不佳。本研究旨在评估水质，特别关注理化参数和细菌污染，包括从巴基斯坦双城的过滤厂（N = 64）采集的饮用水中多重耐药细菌的出现情况。按照美国公共卫生协会标准指南分析理化参数，并使用膜过滤法测定总大肠菌群数。分离革兰氏阴性菌并对其进行菌种鉴定和抗生素敏感性分析。在多个样本中发现总溶解固体、硝酸盐、总大肠菌群、铅和铜的含量升高。多变量相关系数显示，在受细菌污染的样本中，硝酸盐水平与总大肠菌群数之间存在显著正相关。抗生素耐药模式显示存在多重耐药和广泛耐药细菌，对第三代头孢菌素具有高度耐药性。我们的结果凸显了迫切需要改进水过滤工艺并进行定期监测，以便为当地社区提供安全的饮用水。
