Análise microbiológica de água comercializada em carros e pontos de distribuição no município de Cuité - PB.

Abstract

Water is a substance indispensable to life, essential for the proper functioning of the organism, constituting 70% of the human body, and directly influences the health, life quality and development of a population. On the other hand, water has the capacity to carry a large amount of physical-chemical and microbiological contaminants and its consumption, without potability control, represents a risk to health. In addition, more than 1.3 million people worldwide have unmonitored drinking water. With the prolonged dry season and the scarcity of water supply, residents resort to buying water from suppliers, who have transformed this practice into a form of income and survival. One of the important microbiological parameters in the potability standard is the absence of contamination by coliform bacteria. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the microbiological quality of water sold in carts and distribution points in the city of Cuité, Paraíba, Brazil, in order to analyze whether they are within the standards required by current legislation. Six samples were collected from different suppliers and taken to the pharmaceutical microbiology laboratory at the Education and Health Center of the Federal University of Campina Grande. The research was carried out in two stages: counting microorganisms using the depth seeding method and identifying the coliform groups presence in specific liquid media for the presumptive, confirmatory and complete phases. Viable microorganisms values ranged from 50 to 900 CFU/mL; however, only one sample showed fecal coliform contamination. The data revealed compliance with microbiological potability standards for most samples. However, in view of the count values, the educational actions importance is emphasized in order to alert the population to the need for water treatment practices before consumption, as an act of diseases transmitted by water prevention.