Bacteriological quality of swimming pool and spa water in northern Greece during 2011–2016: is it time for Pseudomonas aeruginosa to be included in Greek regulation?

The risk of illness or infection associated with recreational water environments is mainly associated with faecal water contamination. Non-faecal human shedding into the pool water or surrounding area is also a potential source of pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The aim of the current study is to describe and evaluate the bacteriological quality of 2,844 swimming pool and jacuzzi/spa water samples in northern Greece during the 2011–2016 period. Bacteriological quality of recreational water includes heterotrophic bacteria, total coliforms and Escherichia coli according to Greek Hygienic Regulation. P. aeruginosa is a significant agent of opportunistic infection in aquatic environments and was also examined in the aforementioned samples. We aimed to indicate the importance of including P. aeruginosa as a recreational water quality indicator in the revised Hygienic Regulation. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0. The quality of all types of swimming pools was evaluated as excellent since less than 5% was found not to meet the regulations. Considering the presence and concentration of P. aeruginosa, the number of samples that would not meet the standards would differ significantly (18.9%). P. aeruginosa was detected in a larger amount of samples (15.2%) than E. coli (0.6%), which indicates that P. aeruginosa should be assessed as an important factor.