Abstract

Wedemonstrated that floods can induce severemicrobiological contamination of drinkingwater fromwells andsuggest strategies to better address water safety plans for groundwater drinking supplies. Since 2002, the ItalianWater Research Institute (IRSA) has detected hepatitis A virus, adenovirus, rotavirus, norovirus, and enterovirusin water samples fromwells in the Salento peninsula, southern Italy. Perturbations in the ionic strength inwaterflow can initiate strong virus detachments from terra rossa sediments in karst fractures. This study therefore exploredthe potential health impacts of prolonged runoff injections in Salento groundwater caused by severeflooding during October 2018. A mathematicalmodel for virus fate and transport in fractures was applied to determinethe impact of floodwater injection on groundwater quality by incorporating mechanisms that affectvirus attachment/detachment and survival in flowing water at microscale. This model predicted target concentrationsof enteric viruses that can occur unexpectedly inwells at considerable distances (5-8 km) from the runoffinjection site (sinkhole). Subsequently, the health impact of viruses in drinking water supplied fromcontaminated wells was estimated during the summer on the Salento coast. Specific unpublished doseresponsemodel coefficients were proposed to determine the infection probabilities for Echo-11 and Polio 1 enterovirusesthrough ingestion. Themedian (50%) risk of infectionwas estimated at 6.3 · 10-3with an uncertaintyof 23%. The predicted burden of diseases was 4.89 disability adjusted life years per year, i.e., twice the maximum tolerable disease burden. The results highlight the requirement for additional water disinfection treatments inSalento prior to the distribution of drinking water. Moreover, monthly controls of enteric virus occurrence inwater fromwells should be imposed by a newwater framework directive in semiarid regions because of the vulnerabilityof karst carbonate aquifers to prolonged floodwater injections and enteric virus contamination.

Autore Pugliese

• Masciopinto Costantino

Tutti gli autori

• Masciopinto C.; De Giglio O.; Scrascia M.; Fortunato F.; La Rosa G.; Suffredini E.; Pazzani C.; Prato R.; Montagna M.T.

Titolo volume/Rivista

Science of the total environment

Anno di pubblicazione

2019

ISSN

0048-9697

ISBN

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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