Is There Algae In Your Cooler? Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Letter
Vol.10, No.6, August 1992
Bacteria in the Cooler
The number of gallons of water flowing
through water coolers has nearly doubled in
the last few years, rising from some 270
million in 1985 to more than 460 million last year. Part of the increase, not just in
offices but also in homes, schools, and hospitals, is no doubt due to consumers'
concerns about the safety of tap water. But, ironically, many coolers may be
harboring unhealthful high levels of bacteria that can cause nausea and diarrhea
in some people.
When scientists checked the bacterial count of water from 10 water coolers on
the campus of Boston's Northeastern University, they found that in each case the
count reached at least 2,000 potentially harmful organisms for every thousandth
of a liter of water, or four times the 500-organism limit the government
recommends. In some coolers, particularly those that were used frequently,
counts exceeded one million - or 2,000 times the government's recommended
ceiling. The problem, say researchers, is not, that water delivered fresh in those
large, see-through containers has high levels of organisms; water drawn directly
from bottles (rather than dispensed through coolers) consistently falls well below
the government's recommended bacteria limit. Instead, it appears that organisms
from each new bottle of water adhere to a cooler's reservoir - the "well" in which
the bottle sits - and also to its hot and cold water spigots, accumulating over time
and thereby boosting the bacterial count of any water that passes through those
areas on the way to a cup or glass.
Although healthy people are unlikely to become ill drinking such water, some of
the bacteria are capable of causing the vomiting and diarrhea characteristic of an
illness known as gastroenteritis.
Other References: Biofilm.Org, Brookhaven National Laboratory
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