Understanding the Microbiological Quality of Drinking Water at the Point of Consumption with Citizen Science

Water quality monitoring at the point
of consumption
by consumers
can improve the understanding of the microbial risk of drinking water.
In this study, drinking water samples were collected by citizen science
participants according to their normal drinking sources and behaviors.
Among six different sample types, tap water received the most attention
per sampling frequency (39%) and weighted importance score, followed
by drinking fountain (38%) and personal container (21%). Enumeration
of Escherichia coli and the total coliform
as indicator organisms showed consistent and good quality in water
samples from tap water and drinking fountains but significantly higher
detection frequencies (90 and 90%, respectively) and median concentrations
(14 and 252 CFU/100 mL, respectively) in water samples from personal
containers. Microbial community analysis based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon
sequencing showed that the microbial communities in water samples
from personal containers were less diverse than microbial communities
in the other water types, the latter of which showed high similarity
in the microbial composition and α and β diversity. Several
genera that include species of opportunistic pathogens were detected
across samples from drinking water sources, while higher total relative
abundances of these genera were detected in water samples from personal
containers than others.