Assessing bacteriological contamination in public swimming facilities within a Colorado metropolitan community

An increase in waterborne disease outbreaks and illnesses related to public swimming facilities in the past few decades prompted a Colorado metropolitan public health and environment division to assess bacteriological contamination of local public swimming facilities and determine if routine bacteriological sampling may be warranted. In the study discussed in this article, 27 chlorinated public swimming facilities were sampled twice within two consecutive weeks for total coliform, fecal coliform, and heterotrophic plate count (HPC) bacteria. Data from this study suggest that 11% of the public swimming facilities were in excess of public health standards for total coliform bacteria and that 18.5% of the public swimming facilities were in excess of public health standards for HPC bacteria. According to the research data and the reviewed literature, the results indicate that the contamination observed in excess of public health standards was most likely the result of inadequate water treatment operations and activities.