Alternative water sources and endotoxin

Abstract

The primary objective of this preliminary study was to ascertain the concentration of endotoxin in a variety of Australian water types, including recycled water. A total of 42 sampling sites were surveyed, the majority on at least 2 separate occasions (total number of samples analysed was 76). Samples were collected from a variety of locations throughout Australia including: drinking water distribution (12), drinking water reservoir (4), wastewater treatment train (11) and finished recycled water (15). Class A recycled waters, defined microbiologically in Australian regulations as having <10 E. coli per 100 mL, where the treatment train did not include membrane filtration, gave rise to an average measured endotoxin concentration of 2.030 Endotoxin Units (EU) per mL (N=7). For recycled Class A water samples, where membrane filtration was part of the treatment train (N=3) the average endotoxin concentration was 41 EU/mL. Measured endotoxin concentrations in drinking water varied from <4 to 119 EU/mL. Results of this preliminary study indicate that endotoxin concentrations in recycled water may be reduced to levels at least as low as those found in drinking water but for some recycled waters, where membrane filtration is not practiced, higher endotoxin concentrations may persist.

Inflammatory responses and potencies of various lipopolysaccharides from bacteria and cyanobacteria in aquatic environments and water supply systems

“…Information on endotoxin levels in various water samples has been accumulated. Just as an example, drinking water in Japan, China, and Australia ranges 1e10, 4e10, and 72e186 EU/ mL, respectively, while the endotoxin levels in source water varied largely, but normally are in the range of 10e1000 EU/mL (Ohkouchi et al, 2007(Ohkouchi et al, , 2009Can et al, 2013;O'Toole et al, 2008). Rapala et al (2002) also reported that water bloom sample with dense cyanobacteria reached at 3.8 Â 10 4 EU/mL in Finland.…”

The Built Environment—A Missing “Cause of the Causes” of Non-Communicable Diseases

“…Carcinogenic, hormonal, heavy metal and radiological effects must be considered for treatment of recycled water for drinking purposes [105,106] but chronic effects to low levels of chemicals are not well understood, requiring further research [106]. …”

What is driving the NF-κB response in environmental water extracts?

“…Bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are well-known NF-κB activators (Sen and Baltimore, 1986), and endotoxins, which are naturally occurring complex LPS, are present in surface water and wastewater (O'Toole et al, 2008). Studies have related inflammatory responses in vitro to endotoxin concentrations in whole water samples (Wichmann et al, 2004;El Marghani et al, 2014), but few have considered SPE extracts.…”