Assume you are appointed as the microbiologist expert of NGOs and to aid one country for monitoring system for bottled water. The general aim is to analyze the microbial quality of various brands of bottled water marketed of one city. At the end of the day, you will submit the detailed work of plan to the NGOs manager. So, what can be the following:
- Detail of specific aims,
- Specific goals of the project,
- Methods to achieve these goals,
- What microorganisms to monitor,
- Methods to monitor these microorganisms?
Goals could be to determine safety (pathogens and surrogates) and quality (qualitative/quabtitative microbiology that would indicate poor manufacturing practices. These should be determined beforehand.
Think sampling plan will be important to address seasonl, batch, etc. production variability. Suggest methods should be based on those in AWWA's Standard Methods For Examination of Water and Wastewater. https://www.standardmethods.org/buy/?utm_campaign=Standard+Methods+23rd+Edition&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=%2Bstandard+%2Bmethods&utm_content=1952887x646314982800061084
There is a standard microbiological method based on the MPN technique. Very simple and routinely used for studying water microbiology
Hi, Yonas,
I will provide answers to each of your questions.
- Specific goals of the project-
You may specify the goals according to public health co-benefits of the task of monitoring water quality. Let say for example that your hypothetical locality suffers from a high prevalence of waterborne diseases, monitoring drinking water quality would definitely be a source of evidence for local policy.
- Methods to achieve these goals-
Waterborne diseases could be of varying etiological agents- bacterial, viral, and parasitic. Possible methods may include MPN determination for coliform bacteria, molecular methods for detection of parasite and virus biomarkers such as genes or specific proteins.
- What microorganisms to monitor-
Bacteria (Coliforms and other waterborne prokaryotes that can cause disease to humans), parasites, and viruses
- Methods to monitor these microorganisms-
Monitoring must embed methods of detecting these microbes and the conditions as well as frequency and reason/s of conducting the monitoring.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Arizaldo
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