There are approximately 470,000 km(2) of karst aquifers that feed many large springs in North China. Turbulent flow often exists in these karst aquifers, which means that the classical ground water model based on Darcy's law cannot be applied here. Ground water data are rare for these aquifers. As a consequence, it is difficult to quantitatively investigate ground water flow in these karst syst...

Occurrence of Chromobacterium violaceum in six protected drinking water springs in Uganda was investigated. C. violaceum showed a contrasting occurrence, which was independent of human impact as assessed by faecal pollution indicators. It was isolated from two springs (S1 and S2) that were located close to each other (3 km) but not in the rest. In S1 C. violaceum was continuously detected, in c...

Human pathogens can survive and grow in hot springs. For water quality assessment, Escherichia coli or Enterococci are the main thermotolerant enteric bacteria commonly used to estimate the load of pathogenic bacteria in water. However, most of the environmental bacteria are unculturable thus culture methods may cause bias in detection of most pathogens. Illumina sequencing can provide a more c...

A case study is presented that characterizes the hydrogeology of a karstic aquifer system nearby the city of Izmir, Turkey. The main objective of this study is to provide an assessment on the spatial distribution of specific groundwater quality parameters, and to gain insight into their temporal evolution. The study area is the Nif Mountain karstic aquifer system located to the southeast of the...

[O]ne of the deepest and most enduring preoccupations, both of the sick and of the medical profession, from the baths of antiquity through to the Victorian deluge of “hydros,” has been water. . . . the pernicious potential of standing waters, humid vapors, excessive rainfall, pestilential miasmatic fogs, and subterranean aqueous abysses . . . the curative powers of water . . . engendering feroc...

Lake Kinneret is a freshwater lake in northern Israel that receives a major part of its salt input from unmonitored springs that discharge through the lake’s bottom. We attempt to characterize the nature of these springs by estimating their chemical composition. While the springs around Lake Kinneret are subject to wide spatial and temporal variations in their ionic concentrations, specific sod...

Water resources from alpine and other mountainous karst aquifers play an important role for water supply in many European countries. As regulated in the WFD (Water Framework Directive), karstic catchments require sustainable protection. The increasing strains to such regions and the different utilization in the watersheds of karst springs are important triggers to establish early warning system...

Information about the quality of rural drinking water sources can be used to manage their safety and mitigate risks to health. Sanitary surveys, which are observational checklists to assess hazards present at water sources, are simpler to conduct than microbial tests. We assessed whether sanitary survey results were associated with measured indicator bacteria levels in rural drinking water sour...