Czech Republic

Hana Kosová (19)

City/Region: Dubnany E-mail: dgroudev@yahoo.com Hobbies: Listening to music, reading books, biking and playing volleyball Career: Microbiologist School: Special high school of food technology

Lenka Valentová (19)

City/Region: Mutenice E-mail: v.lenka@quick.cz Hobbies: Reading books, listening to music and biking Career: Microbiologist School: Special high school of food technology

A Microbiological Analysis of Drinking Water

Hana and Lenka undertook a microbiological analysis of drinking water taken from several sites in their region and wanted to find out if secondary multiplication and secondary contamination of both hot and cold water is possible. Long before the establishment of microbiology as a science, water was suspected of being a carrier of disease-producing organisms. However it was not until 1854 that an epidemic of cholera was proved to have had its origin in polluted water. Since that time there has been continuous research on the microbiology of public water supplies. The girls tested water samples taken from hot water boilers at various temperatures. And found that a secondary multiplication and contamination by micro-organisms in cold water and in hot water is possible. The results of their microbiological analysis of drinking water are not current and can only be used to demonstrate the state of the water at the time they took their samples. Full microbiological analysis as the girls conclude must be conducted on a regular, weekly or monthly, basis.