Bacteria that Travel: The Quality of Aircraft Water

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Harald Handschuh³  Jean O’ Dwyer²  Catherine C. Adley³  Nicholas Frederick Gray¹ 

[1] Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland; E-Mail;Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland; E-Mail:;Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland; E-Mail:

关键词: aircraft;    potable water;    microbial contamination;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph121113938

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The travelling population is increasing globally year on year. International tourist arrival figures reached 1087 million in 2013 and 1133 million in 2014; of which 53% and 54% respectively accounted for air transport. The water on board aircraft is sourced from surface or ground water; piped to a central filling point and distributed to each aircraft by water service vehicles at the home base or at the destination airport. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the microbial, chemical (pH; Total and Free chlorine) and physical (temperature) quality of water from two aircraft, long- and short-haul, as well as from the original water source and the water service vehicle. A total of 154 water samples were collected and analysed. Long-haul flights were found to be significantly poorer in terms of microbial quality than short haul flights (p = 0.015). Furthermore, correlation and regression analysis showed that the water service vehicle was a significant source of increased microbial load in aircraft. Microbial diversity was also demonstrated, with 37 bacterial species identified belonging to eight classes: γ-Proteobacteria; β-Proteobacteria; α-Proteobacteria; Bacilli; Actinobacteria; Flavobacteria; Sphingobacteria and Cytophaga; using phenotypic and 16S rDNA sequence-based analysis. We present a novel quantified study of aircraft-related potable water supplies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.