Collaborative Research: Comprehensive Microbiological Water Quality and Risk Assessment Tools for Timely Water Management

公众用于饮用水、娱乐和其他用途的水体中存在病原体，具有引起人类疾病的巨大潜力。为了维持水质和确保公众的安全，有必要快速监测病原体的存在并分析其潜在风险。然而，目前量化病原体的方法通常只关注一种病原体，不能及时可靠地提供定量风险信息。拟议的研究包括一种新的方法，以快速评估由易于测量的水质参数确定的各种病原体的存在所造成的健康风险。如果成功，这项研究可以在同一天评估与受污染的水有关的潜在风险，以保护公众的健康。通过外联和培训对高中生、公众和水质专业人员进行教育，从而增加对水质和疾病的了解，将对社会产生额外的好处。本研究的目的是为水管理建立快速的微生物水质和风险评估工具。中心假设是病原体的浓度可以通过粪便指示物（FI）、微生物源追踪（MST）标记物和环境参数的函数来表达。病原体浓度将通过定量微生物风险评估（QMRA）来评估潜在的人类健康风险。本研究的具体目标是：(1)同时量化水样中的主要水生病原体（细菌、病毒和原生动物病原体）以及FI和MST标记物；(2)创建并验证模型，从FI和MST标记物数据预测病原体浓度；(3)建立针对多种病原体的QMRA工作流程。虽然有许多模型可以从环境参数预测FI，但由于缺乏全面的数据集，只有有限的尝试可以预测病原体的浓度。本研究将利用高通量定量PCR技术收集病原体、FI和MST标记物浓度的大型数据集。由于这项研究，公用事业、公共卫生专业人员、水质管理人员和其他利益攸关方将能够在没有专业技能和昂贵设备的情况下快速评估水质并预防疾病爆发。为了增加更广泛的影响，本项目提出了一个全面的计划，该计划将(1)让本科生和高中生参与环境研究，(2)在当地农贸市场和明尼苏达州博览会上开展外展活动，以及(3)为当地污水处理厂和休闲海滩的管理者组织qPCR和QMRA研讨会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The presence of pathogens in water bodies used by the public for drinking water, recreation, and other uses has great potential to cause human diseases. To maintain water quality and assure the safety of the public, it is necessary to rapidly monitor the presence of pathogens and analyze their potential risks. However, current approaches to quantify pathogens are typically focused on only one type of pathogen and cannot reliably provide quantitative risk information in a timely manner. The proposed research consists of a novel approach to rapidly assess health risks caused by the presence of a wide variety of pathogens determined from easy to measure water quality parameters. If successful, this research can lead to a same day assessment of the potential risks associated with contaminated water to protect the health of the public. Additional benefits to society will result from educating high school students, the public, and water quality professionals through outreach and training, thus increasing the understanding of water quality and disease. The goal of this research is to establish rapid microbiological water quality and risk assessment tools for water management. The central hypothesis is that the concentration of a pathogen can be expressed as a function of fecal indicator (FI), microbial source tracking (MST) markers, and environmental parameters. Pathogen concentrations will be used to assess potential human health risks by quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). The specific objectives of this research are to (1) simultaneously quantify major waterborne pathogens (bacterial, viral, and protozoan pathogens) as well as FI and MST markers in water samples, (2) create and validate models to predict pathogen concentrations from FI and MST marker data, and (3) establish a QMRA workflow targeting multiple pathogens. While there are numerous models to predict FI from environmental parameters, only limited attempts have been made to predict concentrations of pathogens due to the lack of comprehensive data sets. This research will take advantage of the high-throughput quantitative PCR technology to collect large data sets of pathogens, FI, and MST marker concentrations. As a result of this research, utilities, public health professionals, water quality managers, and other stakeholders will be able to rapidly assess water quality and prevent disease outbreaks without specialized skills and costly equipment. To increase broader impacts, this project proposes a comprehensive plan that will (1) involve undergraduate and high school students in environmental research, (2) conduct outreach activities at local farmer’s markets and at the Minnesota State Fair, and (3) organize a qPCR and QMRA workshop for managers of local wastewater treatment plants and recreational beaches.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.