Citation:

Revetta, R., S. Pfaller, J. Pressman, D. Wahman, AND V. Gomez-Alvarez. A Long-Term Study of the Microbial Community Structure in a Simulated Chloraminated Drinking Water Distribution System. Presented at WQTC, Salt Lake City, UT, November 15 - 19, 2015.

Impact/Purpose:

These results provide evidence of variations in the DWDS microbial community structure and their resilience (the rate of recovery after disturbance) after episodes of disturbance.In addition, we obtained valuable information into the genome organization of NTM and environmental isolates under strong selection.

Description:

Free chlorine is used as the primary disinfectant in most drinking water distribution systems(DWDS). However, chlorine disinfection promotes the formation of disinfectant by-products (DBPs)and as a result, many US water treatment facilities use chloramination to ensure regulatory compliance of targeted DBPs. However, 30 to 63% of water utilities using secondary chloramine disinfection experience nitrification episodes that detrimentally impact water quality in theirdistribution systems. While each disinfection strategy aims at mitigating the presence of pathogens, they do not completely eradicate growth of microorganisms in distribution systems. The latter has been documented using a variety of culture-based assays and culture independent approaches, such as 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis using Sanger chemistry. Most of the previous approaches are limited in scope. High-throughput sequencing approaches offer a more comprehensive view of the genetic complexity of natural and engineered environments, allowing usto better assess the microbial taxonomic diversity and metabolic potential within any given community. These approaches enhanced our understanding of processes unique to some microbiomes and provided the genetic information to track multiple populations carrying a variety of functions. In this study, we examined the microbiome of a simulated chloraminated DWDS.

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