The Universitat takes part in the creation of a data base of isolated bacteria in water for human consumption

The water for human consumption, both in the water of the supply systems and in bottled water, is not sterile water although it has been subjected to rigorous microbiological controls, but it contains ambient microorganisms that represent the normal microbiota from the environment it comes from. The quick and unequivocal identification of these microorganisms represents an important qualitative improvement for the evaluation of the microbiological quality of water, more than the indicating aquatic bacteria that are usually analysed.

The consortium formed by the Spanish Type Culture Collection of the Universitat de València (CECT), the General Water Society of Barcelona and the Bosch i Gimpera-Univeristat de Barcelona Foundation takes part in a collective initiative for the development of the project Retos Colaboración ‘DRINKING WATER LIBRARY’(RTC-2015-4496-2), which aim is the development of a profile library MALDI-TOF MS, a mass spectrometry technology used normally in clinical analysis, which will allow the low cost identification of isolated microorganisms in consumption water, both in distribution networks and bottled water.

For the creation of this library, isolated bacteria from samples of safe water from different waterworks, supply networks and bottled water are being used. These samples are being analysed and contrasted with reference strains coming from the CECT.

The project, in the framework of the public financing programme ‘Retos‐Colaboración 2015’, from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, will finish in September 2018. The generated data base could be used in research centres, public organization or public and private companies of safe water, although the aim is to widen its key use at a global scale.

With its headquarters in the Science Park of the Universitat de València, the Spanish Type Culture Collection (CECT) is the only public Microbial Biological Resource Centre in Spain and it acts as a holder and supplier of bacteria, archaea, yeast and filamentous fungi. In addition to R&D, its main aim is to provide reference microbiological material for the scientific international community. It offers services related with conservation, identification and characterisation of microorganisms, and also in the area of training and consultancy. It has a total of 8 559 microorganisms between bacteria, archaea, filamentous fungi and yeasts.