“Microbiological quality of indoor and outdoor swimming pools in Greece: Investigation of the antibiotic resistance of the bacterial isolates” C.Papadopoulou, V.Economou, H.Sakkas,P.Gousia, X.Giannakopoulos, C.Dontorou, G.Filioussis, H.Gessouli, P.Karanis, S.Leveidiotou During 1997-2005, the microbiological quality and susceptibility of bacterial isolates of swimming pool waters were investigated. A total of 462 water samples were collected from three indoor […]

“Microbiological quality of indoor and outdoor swimming pools in Greece: Investigation of the antibiotic resistance of the bacterial isolates”
C.Papadopoulou, V.Economou, H.Sakkas,P.Gousia, X.Giannakopoulos, C.Dontorou, G.Filioussis, H.Gessouli, P.Karanis, S.Leveidiotou

During 1997-2005, the microbiological quality and susceptibility of bacterial isolates of swimming pool waters were investigated. A total of 462 water samples were collected from three indoor swimming pools (a teaching pool, a competition public pool, a hydrotherapy pool) and two outdoor swimming pools (a hotel semi-public and a residential private pool) in Northwestern Greece. All water samples were analyzed for the presence of bacteria, protozoa and fungi and susceptibility tests were performed for the bacterial isolates. Sixty-seven percent of the examined water samples conformed to the microbiological standards and 32.9% exceeded at least one of the indicated limits. Out of 107 bacterial isolates, 38 (35.5%) resistant strains were detected.Multi-resistant Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Leuconostoc, and Staphylococcus aureus (isolated from the teaching pool), Staphylococcus wernerii, Chryseobacterium indologenes and Ochrobactrum anthropi (isolated from the competition pool), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, Aeromonas hydrophila, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and S. aureus (isolated from the hydrotherapy pool) and A. hydrophila (isolated from the hotel pool) were detected.  The swimming pool with the poorest microbiological quality (THC X500 cfu/ml in 12.1% of the samples, P. aeruginosa counts p1500 cfu/100 ml in 6% of the samples) and the highest prevalence of multi-resistant isolates (73.6%) was the hydrotherapy pool. No Cryptosporidium or Giardia cysts and no Legionella, Mycobacteria and Salmonella were detected, but there were isolations of Candida albicans, Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Alternaria spp., Rhizopus spp., Trichophyton spp., and Penicillium spp.

“Impact of intensive agricultural practices on drinking water quality in the EVROS Region (NE GREECE) by GIS analysis” C. Nikolaidis & P. Mandalos & A. Vantarakis Chemical fertilizers are used extensively in modern agriculture, in order to improve yield and productivity of agricultural products. However, nutrient leaching from agricultural soil into groundwater resources poses a major […]

“Impact of intensive agricultural practices on drinking water quality in the EVROS Region (NE GREECE) by GIS analysis”
C. Nikolaidis & P. Mandalos & A. Vantarakis

Chemical fertilizers are used extensively in modern agriculture, in order to improve yield and productivity of agricultural products. However, nutrient leaching from agricultural soil into groundwater resources poses a major environmental and public health concern. The Evros region is one of the largest agricultural areas in Northern Greece, extending over 1.5 million acres of cultivated land. Many of its drinking water resources are of groundwater origin and lie within agricultural areas. In order to assess the impact of agricultural fertilizers on drinking water quality in this region, tap-water samples from 64 different locations were collected and analyzed for the presence of nitrates NO3, nitrites NO2 , ammonium NH4, sulfate SO2 4 and phosphate PO3 4.These chemicals were selected based on the information that ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate and inorganic phosphate were the primary fertilizers used in local crop production. NO3 , SO4  and PO4 levels exceeding accepted values were recorded in 6.25, 4.70 and 9.38% of all sampling points, respectively. NO2 and NH4 concentrations, on the other hand, were inside the permitted range. The data generated were introduced into a geographic information system (GIS) program for computer analysis and projection maps representing afflicted areas were created. Our results indicate a profound geographic correlation in the surface distribution of primary contaminants in areas of intensified agricultural production. Thus, drinking water pollution in these areas can be attributed to excessive fertilizer use from agricultural sources