Survey of Microbial Contamination of Water in Natural Swimming Places of Behshahr in 2017: A Short Report

Background and Objectives: Water contamination of baths causes gastrointestinal, skin and fungal diseases due to pathogens. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the microbial contamination of natural swimming places water in Behshahr. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive study was performed in three natural swimming places. Nine-tube fermentation method was used to determine the bacterial contamination of coliforms, and membrane filtration method was used to measure enterococci. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used for data analysis.  Results: Total coliforms in 2 samples (22.22 %) were undesirable and in 7 samples (77.78 %) desirable; thermophilic coliforms in one sample (11.11 %) were undesirable and in 8 samples (88.89 %) desirable; and intestinal enterococci in one sample (11.11%) were undesirable and in 8 samples (88.89%) desirable. There was a significant relationship between total coliforms and fecal coliforms and total coliforms and intestinal enterococci (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Totally, bacteriological contamination index was desirable in the investigated natural swimming places, but in a limited number of samples, the contamination indices were higher than the standard. Key words: Coliform, Thermophilic coliform, Enterococci, Natural swimming places, Behshahr   Funding: This study did not have any funds. Conflict of interest: None declared. Ethical approval: This project was not registered.   How to cite this article: Amouei A I, Jafari Atrabi M , Fallah S H , Asgharnia H A, Aghalari Z. Survey of Microbial Contamination of Water in Natural Swimming Places of Behshahr in 2017: A Short Report. J Rafsanjan Univ Med Sci 2019; 18 (8): 839-48. [Farsi]