Environmental Microbiology, Soil Microbiology & Microbial Biogeochemistry

Microbes in Water

Water microbiology is concerned with the microorganisms that live in water, or transferred from one habitat to another by water. Another group of microbes of concern in water microbiology are protozoa. The two protozoa of the most concern are Giardia and Cryptosporidium. They live normally in the intestinal tract of animals such as beaver and deer. Giardia and Cryptosporidium form dormant and hardy forms called cysts during their life cycles. The cyst forms are resistant to chlorine, which is the most popular form of drinking water disinfection, and can pass through the filters used in many water treatment plants. If ingested in drinking water they can cause debilitating and prolonged diarrhea in humans, and can be life threatening to those people with impaired immune.