Fungal contaminants in man-made water systems
connected to municipal water
Duygu Göksay Kadaifciler and Rasime Demirel
ABSTRACT
Water-related fungi are known to cause taste and odor problems, as well as negative health effects,
and can lead to water-pipeline clogging. There is no legal regulation on the occurrence of fungi in
water environments. However, much research has been performed, but further studies are needed.
The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the fungal load and the presence of mycotoxigenic
fungi in man-made water systems (for homes, hospitals, and shopping centers) connected to
municipal water in Istanbul, Turkey. The mean fungal concentrations found in the different water
samples were 98 colony-forming units (CFU)/100 mL in shopping centers, 51 CFU/100 mL in
hospitals, and 23 CFU/100 mL in homes. The dominant fungal species were identified as
Aureobasidium pullulans and Fusarium oxysporum.Aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus and
ochratoxigenic Aspergillus westerdijkiae were only detected in the hospital water samples.
Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus clavatus, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Cladosporium cladosporioides
were also detected in the samples. The study reveals that the municipal water supplies, available for
different purposes, could thus contain mycotoxigenic fungi. It was concluded that current
disinfection procedures may be insufficient, and the presence of the above-mentioned fungi is
important for people with suppressed immune systems.
Duygu Göksay Kadaifciler (corresponding author)
Faculty of Science, Department of Biology,
Istanbul University,
34314 Vezneciler, Istanbul,
Turkey
E-mail: dgoksay@istanbul.edu.tr
Rasime Demirel
Faculty of Science, Department of Biology,
Anadolu University,
26470 Tepebaş ı, Eskiş ehir,
Turkey
Key words | aflatoxin, DNA sequencing, fungi, municipal water, ochratoxin, thin-layer
chromatography
INTRODUCTION
Microbial contamination in man-made water systems has
recently emerged as a growing problem (Sautour et al.
; Al-gabr et al. ). Municipal water passes through
kilometers of pipelines and, most of the time, is stored
for periods before use. Microorganisms are introduced
into the water during supply and are transferred by
water flow, during which they can adhere to the inner sur-
faces of pipes and produce biofilm layers, which
accumulate over time. Microorganisms associated with
biofilms, when intermittently separated from the biofilm
matrix, can create new biofilm layers elsewhere in
pipelines. Therefore, these biofilm fragments and micro-
organisms can spread throughout water distribution
systems; this condition affects the hygienic quality of the
water. Water-related fungi are related to taste or odor pro-
blems, contamination of food, corrosion of water supply
pipelines, and various health problems (Anaissie et al.
; Hageskal et al. ).
Doggett () was the first to report the presence of
fungi in municipal water distribution-system biofilms;
Aspergillus and Penicillium were the most common bio-
film genera found. Consequent studies show that allergic
and opportunistic pathogen members of the genera Asper-
gillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Alternaria, Trichoderma,
and Cladosporium have spread to homes, dental clinics,
and hospitals via water distribution systems (Anaissie
et al. ; Hapcıoglu et al. ; Hageskal et al. ,
; Sautour et al. ; Göksay Kadaifciler et al. ).
244 © IWA Publishing 2018 Journal of Water and Health | 16.2 | 2018
doi: 10.2166/wh.2018.272
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