公衆衛生と安全の国際ジャーナル

Cleanliness of Drinking Water Faucets in Public Facilities

Abstract

Jun Kobayashi, Keiichi Ikeda and Hideo Sugiyama

Water is essential for human life. In Japan, average daily water use is about 500 L. We conducted a survey of the cleanliness of publicly used drinking facilities. The water faucets in some public facilities (such as parks, public baths) in Japan are used by many people in quick need of water. It is accepted that such faucets are beneficial in preventing disease and for general health. These faucets are regularly cleaned. However, since they are partly installed outdoors and have many users, there are doubts over their actual cleanliness. It is therefore necessary for the sake of public health to examine the safety of such facilities. In this study, we examined contamination by general bacteria and coliforms in tap water as well as on the faucet handles and intake ports using instrumental analysis and simple tests. The measured factors were total coliforms, general bacteria, residual chlorine, ammonia, nitrite, chemical oxygen demand, and pH. We detected bacteria in some drinking and bathing water samples. We believed the cause to be inadequate addition of chlorine or reduction due to consumption. We consider it necessary to introduce counter measures to prevent infection.