Microbial risk assessment of drinking water filtration dispenser toll machines (DFTMs) in Mahasarakham province of Thailand

Abstract

Abstract This investigation aimed to assess the microbial quality of drinking water produced by drinking water filtration dispenser toll machines (DFTMs) to assess the health risk of DFTM water. A total of 210 samples were randomly collected of 70 DFTMs within a radial distance of 500 metres around Mahasarakham University. The prevalence of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in the DFTM water was 54.17% and 16.67% with an average concentration of 1.04 log cfu/ml and 0.26 log cfu/ml, respectively. The risk calculation (using the @Risk program based on drinking water consumption of 2 L/day) indicated that the probability of exposure was 1.67 E-01, while the probability of illness due to E. coli and S. aureus was 2.08 E-03 and 1.58 E-05 and the risk of illness was 1.13 E-03 and 2.64 E-06, respectively. The sanitation status and drinking water quality related to health would be influenced by other pathogens due to the poor hygienic conditions of DFTMs and improper environments.