Pathogen contamination of groundwater systems and health risks

Abstract

Groundwater has been a relatively safe water source and associated with a series of global pressing issues. It can, however, be vulnerable to pathogen contamination and exhibit risks to public health. While groundwater has often been considered a relatively closed ecosystem, it is important to understand the transport of pathogens into and within groundwater and groundwater-dependent ecosystems in the context of their physiological characteristics, soil/sediment texture, hydrogeological and climatic conditions. The rapid progress in monitoring and modeling tools in recent years has facilitated the detection of pathogens and the prediction of their migration in groundwater, which aids the surveillance and remediation of health-related risks. This review aims to provide an updated understanding about groundwater pathogens, their impacts on human health, surveillance, risk assessment, and remediation strategies in the context of the global environment and climate changes. The challenges and perspectives in protecting groundwater biosafety are also discussed.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Groundwater pathogens
• pathogen transport
• pathogen surveillance
• remediation
• waterborne diseases

Handling Editors:

• Amit Bhatnagar and Lena Q. Ma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 42020104005] and Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China [Grant No. 2021YFA0715900]. Y. D. is partially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under the contracts [41877321, 92051111, and 91851211]. Y. D., Z., J., Y. J., and Y. H. are partially supported by Fundamental Research Funds for the Chinese Central Government via China University of Geosciences [122-G10423522144]. We appreciate the suggestion from Yiqun Gan and data analyses by Shuyi Li, Qi Feng, Chenxi Li and Yongzhe Li at China University of Geosciences.