Microbiological quality and sensitivity profile to antimicrobials in artesian well waters in a municipality in the northwest of Rio Grande do Sul

The quality of water used for consumption has a direct influence on people's health and quality of life, demonstrating the need to create mechanisms to control and monitor potentials contaminations. This study aimed to determine and quantify total coliforms, Escherichia co/i, and to evaluate their antimicrobial susceptibility profile in waters from rural wells in a northwestern municipality of Rio Grande do Sul State. Microbiological collections and analyses were carried out in samples from 40 artesian wells, registered in the Water Quality Surveillance Information System for Human Consumption (Sistema de Informacao de Vigilancia da Qualidade da Aqua para Consumo Humano - SISAGUA). The results show that 85% of the samples were positive for total col iforms and 225% were identified as E. colt Of the eight antibiotics tested, only Amoxicillin, Ampicillin, and Nitrofurantoin showed 100% inhibition of bacterial growth. It is concluded that an important part of the analyzed wells did not present water with quality standards for consumption, requiring corrective actions by public authorities as a way of preventing infectious diseases. In addition, one must seek to rationalize the pharmacological treatment with antibiotics, due to indications of bacterial resistance presented by the strains isolated in this study.