Causes and Risks of Increased Presence of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Drinking Water

In the past, the purpose of water treatment was to reduce suspended solids and eliminate living pathogens in water, which was achieved by conventional filtration and disinfection methods. But at present, with the increase of pollution in water sources, the existing methods are not fully capable of proper water treatment. Studies have shown that disinfecting drinking water can increase the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in aqueous media. Water treatment may increase the antibiotic resistance of surviving bacteria, and water distribution systems may serve as an important reservoir for expanding antibiotic resistance to opportunistic pathogens. Drinking water treatment processes cannot completely eliminate ARGs from drinking water sources, and therefore, drinking water supply systems may be an initial route of release of ARGs from the environment to the host, posing potential risks to human health. It has also been shown that the number of some bacteria increases with the amount of chlorine in drinking water and the water treatment process is not able to completely remove antibiotics from drinking water. For this reason, it is necessary to learn more about the amount and frequency of bacteria with antibiotic-resistant mutations. In this article, a brief review of studies on drinking water treatment as well as the introduction of antibiotics used in daily life through sewage and effluents and its impact on human health has been done.