Background: This study investigated the interaction between heterotrophic bacteria and coliform, Fecal coliforms, Fecal streptococci bacteria in water supply networks.Methods: This study was conducted during 2013 on water supply distribution network in Aq Qala City, Golestan Province, Northern Iran and standard methods were applied for microbiological analysis. The surface method was applied to test the heterotrophic bacteria and MPN method was used for coliform, Fecal coliform and Fecal streptococci bacteria measurements.Results: In 114 samples, heterotrophic bacteria count were over 500 CFU/ml, which the amount of Fecal coliform, coliform, and Fecal streptococci were 8, 32, and 20 CFU/100 ml, respectively. However, in the other 242 samples, with heterotrophic bacteria count being less than 500 CFU/ml, the amount of Fecal coliform, coliform, and Fecal streptococci was 7, 23, and 11 CFU/100ml, respectively. The relationship between heterotrophic bacteria, coliforms and Fecal streptococci was highly significant (P<0.05). We observed the concentration of coliforms, Fecal streptococci bacteria being high, whenever the concentration of heterotrophic bacteria in the water network systems was high.Conclusion: Interaction between heterotrophic bacteria and coliform, Fecal coliforms, Fecal streptococci bacteria in the Aq Qala City water supply networks was not notable. It can be due to high concentrations of organic carbon, bio-films and nutrients, which are necessary for growth, and survival of all microorganisms.

Origins of contamination for traditional ice cream consist of using of using primarily contaminated or unpasteurized ingredients (i.e., milk or cream). Determination of coliform-Enterococcns ratio is among methods used for investigation of Fecal coliform's origin. This study aims to enumerate Fecal coliform and Enterococci as well as their ratio, in order to find out the origin of contamination in traditional ice cream. Consequently, 21 traditional ice cream samples were collected throughout Tabriz. Samples were prepared and then enumation of Fecal coliforms and Enterococci were performed according to the Iranian standards (No. 356, 2946 and 2198 respectively). Mean level of contamination for Fecal coliforms was 6.67 and for Enterococci were 307.1. On the other hand, the Fecal coliforms-Enterococci ratio was determined as 0.0217. Regarding the normal mean ratio of coliforms and Enterococci in cow's intestine, therefore the origin of contamination for traditional ice creams were distinguished as cow's feces which could enter cow's milk direct and lor indirectly.

Introduction: Water for agriculture is one of the most important factors in arid and semi-arid areas and municipal wastewater treatment is an important resource for this purpose. Wastewaters even after treatment may contain many types of microorganisms that are pathogenic to humans and dangerous for the environment. Therefore, potential of transfer contaminations is a serious problem regarding use of treated wastewater for agriculture. Due to the risk of transfer contaminations through the use of wastewater, the study of transfer microbes in soil in recent decades has been of interest to researchers. Thereafter various irrigation techniques can be used associated with treated wastewater for agriculture. Accordingly, the present study was conducted on Fecal coliform in the wastewater treatment in laboratory columns.Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted in Agriculture Faculty of TarbiatModares University for 62 days in 2013. This study was conducted on Fecal coliform in the wastewater treatment in laboratory columns, having 30 cm diameter and 60 cm height. They were irrigated using surface drip irrigation system (DI). Samples of the effluent and soil solutions were collected from the experimental columns after each irrigation events. Soil texture was clay-loam that was collected from south of Tehran wastewater treatment plant. Three models of one site sorbtion's model, attachment/ detachment two kinetic site and attachment/ detachment one kinetic site, were used for simulation of Fecal coliform transport by inverse solution option of the HYDRUS-ID model. For calibration of the model and estimating the model input parameters, soil hydraulic and transport parameters were inversely estimated. Results represented that the HYDRUS-1D with reasonably accurately simulated the outlet flow. To simulate the transfer of the bacteria in the soil, one site sorption model, two kinetic sites model (particle transport using attachment/detachment) and one kinetic site model were used.

Shortage of fresh water resources is a major worldly concern. Accessibility of water for irrigation purposes is also one of the most important concerns in arid and semiarid regions. This is why treated domestic wastewater is thought of as an important water source. Even following treatment, wastewater may contain a great many kinds of microorganisms hazardous to humans and environment. Therefore the potential transmission of pollution is a principle problem associated with the use of treated wastewater in agriculture. Various irrigation techniques can be employed, associated with treated wastewater used in agriculture. Accordingly, the present study was conducted on Fecal coliform in the wastewater treatment in some laboratory columns of 30 cm diameter and 60 cm height irrigated, using surface Drip Irrigation (DI) vs Subsurface Drip Irrigation system (SDI). Samples of the effluent and soil solutions were collected from each column after each irrigation event. Results revealed that crowds of bacteria rose in either column. There were no significant differences observed between crowds of bacteria in the effluents of columns in the two irrigation systems. It was also observed that contamination in the 15 cm layer, in SDI was lower than that in the DI column.

Introduction: Storage rainwater in cisterns for drinking has been common in many areas including Iran. According to World Health Organization, water is one of the most important ways for transferring of microbial contamination in human communities, so survey of water bacteriological quality in these cisterns is necessary in order to identify the possible sources of contamination and to suggest some procedures for improvement of the cisterns status.Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on cistern waters of rural areas in Agh-ghala and Bandar Torkman counties. A total of 40 cisterns of 8 villages were selected using cluster sampling method. For each sample, the number of coliforms and Fecal coliforms, Ph and amount of the residual chlorine were measured according to the standard methods. In order to analyze the data, Excell and SPSS 15.0 soft wares were used and Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied.Result: Totally, 73 samples (60.9%) were contaminated with coliform and 38 of samples (31.6%) contained Fecal coliform. There was no significant difference between coliform and Fecal coliform (p-value=0.086 and 0.212, respectively) in the terms of contamination among the cistern waters fed with tin coverage or iranite coverage roofs. A significant difference was observed between samples of before and after raining and after chlorination the water.Conclusion: The performed tests showd the high degrees of contamination with both coliform and Fecal coliform. Therefore, in order to protect the public health, giving the essential information to the people regarding the improvement of the cistern waters and disinfection of water and carrying out the suitable apporaches by regional health authorities are necessary.

Current global water shortage and water pollution problem are some of the crucial issues in the world, especially in the arid zones. The wastewater reuse was investigated the efficiency of Fecal coliform (FC) removal using the intermittent media infiltration (IMI) with varying soil content and natural porous media (sand, zeolite, vermicompost and charcoal), and its prediction was introduced by applying fuzzy rules emulated network (FREN). The physicochemical properties of the porous media were determined and the mechanisms of FC removal were discussed as the effect of fine particle size and increasing of ion charges. The compositions of soil and porous media at a ratio of 75/25, respectively, gave the best performance of FC reduction. The network architecture was constructed by the knowledge regarding to the relation between soil content (25, 50 and 75) and FC removal, and was introduced IF-THEN rules for FREN construction as their predicted curves at 20 iterations. The learning rate h was selected as 5 following the main theorem and the convergence of FREN prediction could be guaranteed. The results showed that the prediction methodology gave a good performance to forecast FC removal with the range of soil content (20-80%) and several compositions of porous media in IMI system.

Background and purpose: Most traditional tea shop owners use a bowl to wash tea cups in Sari city (North of Iran). There are more than 140 traditional tea shops in the city. Unfortunately most people drinking at these shops as well as health authorities do not pay attention to the health criteria of the shop. The objective of this study was to examin the tea cups washing water of traditional tea shops for contamination to Fecal coliform in Sari city.Materials and Methods: Twenty traditional tea shops (16%) were randomly selected for this study in different areas of the city. Multistage (3 stages) samples were taken from tea set of the shops. All samples were collected from the tea sets of the shops without prior notice. The samples were transferred to the laboratory in cold box as quickly as possible.Results: Forty four samples from a total of 60 (66.6%) were positive for total coliforms. Also 32 samples (33.3%) were positive for Fecal coliforms. Number of bacteria in the samples varied from zero to over 1100 per 100 cc sample. The study showed that in warmer situations the contamination was higher. The results showed that the differences between contamination rates in both groups of internal and external traditional tea shops were insignificant.Conclusion: The results showed that only two samples in multistage sampling were not contaminated and in all other samples at least in one stage of sampling, contamination was detected. The results of this study are an important message for food administration.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Sanitization of Lettuce according to the protocols set forth by Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education for reducing populations of total coliform, Fecal coliform, and helminth eggs present on lettuce.Methods: In the present study, we determined the load of total coliform, Fecal coliform, and parasites of lettuce. The lettuce was sanitized by protocol of Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The protocol consists of 3 levels to disinfect the fruits and vegetables. The procedure was as follows: first washing stage. The leaves of leafy vegetables washed with tap water, second stage, separation of helminth eggs by 3 to 5 droplets of detergent per liter for 5 min; third stage, disinfection of vegetables by calcium hypochlorite solution (with 200 mg/l free chlorine) for 5 min; and finally the disinfected vegetables were washed with tap water.Results: The average initial levels of total coliform and Fecal coliform in the samples were 3.36 log10 cfu/g and 2.31 log10 cfu/g, respectively. Helminth eggs were not detected in any of the samples tested. The efficiency of total coliform and Fecal coliform removal were 78.1% (0.75 log10cfu/g) and 79.6% (0.67 log10cfu/g), respectively, after washing. This increased up to 94.8 (1.44 log10cfu/g) and 98.5% (1.90 log10cfu/g) after the use of detergent. Chlorine disinfection rose these amounts up to 98.3% (2.18 log10cfu/g) and 100% (2.31 log10cfu/g), respectively.Conclusion: By applying the protocol large parts of microorganisms existing on lettuce have indeed been removed.

Background & objectives: Considering the importance of sanitizing vegetables before consumption, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of different stages of the most common vegetable disinfection methods in Iran in reducing total coliform and Fecal coliform for the most consumed edible vegetables. Methods: Three stages of disinfection were done, including-Scraping and pre-wash of vegetables (first step),-Separation of parasites by 3-5 droplets of detergent per liter for 5 minutes (second step), and-Disinfection of vegetables with calcium hypochlorite solution (200 mg/l free chlorine) for 5 min (third step). Finally, disinfected vegetables were washed out with water. MPN test was used to determine total and Fecal coliform. The efficiency of each stage was determined using the difference between total and Fecal coliforms before and after each and total disinfection stage. Results: The Fecal coliform amount did not reach zero even after all the disinfection steps in vegetables with more foliage and hidden holes (such as basil and onion). Besides, according to this study's results, radish, onion, and coriander leaves had the highest contamination, and lettuce had the lowest total and Fecal coliform. The highest total coliform removal efficiency related to beets (93. 3%) was obtained under calcium hypochlorite disinfection, and the highest Fecal coliform removal efficiency related to leeks, parsley, and beets (100%) under calcium hypochlorite disinfection. Conclusion: To achieve the highest efficiency in reducing microbial agents in vegetables, it is necessary to complete the different disinfection stages following its instructions. In this regard, the efforts of the media and health experts are essential.