Water microbiology

The course provides students with basic knowledge about biodiversity and functionalities of microbial communities in natural water sources (groundwater, glaciers, freshwater and seawater) and in relevant man-made water systems (drinking water bottling plants, drinking water filtering systems, desalinization plants, water pipelines, wastewater treatment plant). European and national legislative framework is delivered together with official analytical methods for microbial water quality. The course conveys awareness concerning water safety in developing countries.

At the end of the course the students will be able to describe the role of microbial communities in natural water sources as well as to discriminate between harmful and not-harmful bacteria in man-made water systems. The students will be able to classify waters in the reference legislative framework and to consult successive updates. Students will be able to compare technologies of water treatments in western versus developing countries considering safety issues.