A comparative analysis employing a gene- and genome-centric metagenomic approach reveals changes in composition, function, and activity in waterworks with different treatment processes and source water in Finland

The emergence and development of next-generation sequencing technologies (NGS) has made the analysis of the water microbiome in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) more accessible and opened new perspectives in microbial ecology studies. The current study focused on the characterization of the water microbiome employing a gene- and genome-centric metagenomic approach to five waterworks in Finland with different raw water sources, treatment methods, and disinfectant. The microbial communities exhibit a distribution pattern of a few dominant taxa and a large representation of low-abundance bacterial species. Changes in the community structure may correspond to the presence or absence and type of disinfectant residual which indicates that these conditions exert selective pressure on the microbial community. The Archaea domain represented a small fraction (up to 2.5%) and seemed to be effectively controlled by the disinfection of water. Their role particularly in non-disinfected DWDS may be more important than previously considered. In general, non-disinfected DWDSs harbor higher microbial richness and maintaining disinfectant residual is significantly important for ensuring low microbial numbers and diversity. Metagenomic binning recovered 139 (138 bacterial and 1 archaeal) metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that had a >50% completeness andPeer reviewe

Bacterial diversity and predicted enzymatic function in a multipurpose surface water system – from wastewater effluent discharges to drinking water production

Funding Information: The authors would like to express special acknowledgment to the CONPAT research team at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finnish Environment Institute, and VATT Institute for Economic Research. Special thanks go to Tiina Heiskanen and Laura Wessels for extracting the nucleic acids. The Water Protection Association of the River Kokem?enjoki (KVVY) is acknowledged for surface water and wastewater sampling. Funding Information: Academy of Finland (grant number 263451) and Kaute Foundation (grant number 20190366) are acknowledged for providing funds for the project establishment and manuscript writing, respectively. Funding Information: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. This work was in part supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of the agency; therefore, no official endorsement should be inferred. Any mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Background Rivers and lakes are used for multiple purposes such as for drinking water (DW) production, recreation, and as recipients of wastewater from various sources. The deterioration of surface water quality with wastewater is well-known, but less is known about the bacterial community dynamics in the affected surface waters. Understanding the bacterial community characteristics -from the source of contamination, through the watershed to the DW production process-may help safeguard human health and the environment. Results The spatial and seasonal dynamics of bacterial communities, their predicted functions, and potential health-related bacterial (PHRB) reads within the Kokemaenjoki River watershed in southwest Finland were analyzed with the 16S rRNA-gene amplicon sequencing method. Water samples were collected from various sampling points of the watershed, from its major pollution sources (sewage influent and effluent, industrial effluent, mine runoff) and different stages of the DW treatment process (pre-treatment, groundwater observation well, DW production well) by using the river water as raw water with an artificial groundwater recharge (AGR). The beta-diversity analysis revealed that bacterial communities were highly varied among sample groups (R = 0.92, p = 13%) than in other groups (= 13%) than in others (Peer reviewe

Novel Microbiological and Spatial Statistical Methods to Improve Strength of Epidemiological Evidence in a Community-Wide Waterborne Outbreak

Peer reviewe