Understanding the microbiota in drinking water distribution networks – from municipal to indoor water supply systems
type: CreativeWork
description: "A drinking water distribution system can be viewed as an ecosystem that is comprised of diverse microorganisms interacting with each other and the environment. These microorganisms are central to water quality integrity during distribution. This study investigated the diversity, structure, and spatio-temporal variation of microbial communities in the municipal distribution system and indoor plumbing. The Champaign-Urbana water distribution system, which received conventionally treated and disinfected groundwater, was used as a model system. High throughput sequencing (454 pyrosequencing and Illumina Mi-seq sequencing) was used to study the diversity, and flow cytometry was used to quantify microbial abundance. For the municipal distribution system, the study focused on the biofilm component. Microbial communities were sampled from household water meters (n=213). Tap water communities (n=20) were also sampled for comparisons. A positive correlation between OTU abundance and occupancy was observed. Highly abundant and prevalent OTUs were observed and defined as ""core populations"" in the biofilm and suspended communities. The biofilm core population overlapped with the suspended community and formed a ""shared core population,"" including taxa related to methano-/methylotrophy and aerobic heterotrophy. Despite that, the biofilm community differed from the suspended community by specific core populations and lower diversity and evenness. Multivariate tests indicated seasonality as the main contributor to community structure variation. Indoor plumbing has smaller pipelines and is prone to stagnation, therefore biological growth is expected. However, the magnitude of biological growth and the possible community composition change is not clear. Thus, we examined the impact of stagnation on the community composition in the tap water community. We treated three dormitory buildings in Champaign-Urbana as natural laboratories and conducted a controlled stagnation test. Our …
abstract: "A drinking water distribution system can be viewed as an ecosystem that is comprised of diverse microorganisms interacting with each other and the environment. These microorganisms are central to water quality integrity during distribution. This study investigated the diversity, structure, and spatio-temporal variation of microbial communities in the municipal distribution system and indoor plumbing. The Champaign-Urbana water distribution system, which received conventionally treated and disinfected groundwater, was used as a model system. High throughput sequencing (454 pyrosequencing and Illumina Mi-seq sequencing) was used to study the diversity, and flow cytometry was used to quantify microbial abundance. For the municipal distribution system, the study focused on the biofilm component. Microbial communities were sampled from household water meters (n=213). Tap water communities (n=20) were also sampled for comparisons. A positive correlation between OTU abundance and occupancy was observed. Highly abundant and prevalent OTUs were observed and defined as ""core populations"" in the biofilm and suspended communities. The biofilm core population overlapped with the suspended community and formed a ""shared core population,"" including taxa related to methano-/methylotrophy and aerobic heterotrophy. Despite that, the biofilm community differed from the suspended community by specific core populations and lower diversity and evenness. Multivariate tests indicated seasonality as the main contributor to community structure variation. Indoor plumbing has smaller pipelines and is prone to stagnation, therefore biological growth is expected. However, the magnitude of biological growth and the possible community composition change is not clear. Thus, we examined the impact of stagnation on the community composition in the tap water community. We treated three dormitory buildings in Champaign-Urbana as natural laboratories and conducted a controlled stagnation test. Our …
author: Ling, Fangqiong
language: en
keywords: Drinking water, microbiome, disinfection, Miseq, unified neutral theory of biodiversity
date published: 2016-07-07T21:04:20Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:26:34Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90863