Root Cause Analysis of Contamination of Water in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction: Water is a main source of various microorganisms especially in developing countries. The goal of bacteriological quality monitoring is to assure the safety of drinking water for consumers and to monitor the performance of treatment processes. One of the cardinal principles of hospital care is that it should cause no harm to the patient. However, if the water supply in the hospital setting is unsatisfactory patients may acquire various infections in hospital. Objective: The present study was carried out to identify the root cause of presence of repeated coliforms in water samples received from various areas in the hospital. Methods: Water samples were collected from various sites as part of routine surveillance and were checked for presence of coliforms. Further stepwise approach was taken for the root cause analysis of contamination of overhead tanks, water supply pipelines and underground water source. Result: Two, out of 3 underground sources, were supplying water heavily contaminated with coliforms like Escherichia coli due to leakage in nearby septic tanks. Both the sources were closed permanently and septic tanks were repaired. Supply was carried out only from third source. Repeat testing of water samples after few weeks later was free from coliforms. Conclusion: The contamination of underground water was identified as defect in the septic tank located nearby. This was possible only because of regular analysis of water by Microbiology department and systematic approach to find out the root cause by Community medicine departments. Bacteriological assessment of all water sources for drinking should be planned and conducted on regular basis to prevent water borne infections especially in hospital setting.