Gyeonggi Province Institute of Health and Environment Investigates Microbial Contamination at 47 Water Play Facilities

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] The Gyeonggi Province Institute of Health and Environment (GIHE) will investigate the status of pathogenic microbial contamination at 47 water play facilities including fountains and ponds in the province through August.

Water play facilities refer to artificial installations such as fountains, ponds, waterfalls, and artificial streams that use tap water and groundwater, which are open to the public and allow users to directly touch the water and play.

The GIHE has been investigating microbial contamination levels since last year from a disease prevention perspective, as fountains typically used for landscaping are increasingly used by residents as water play facilities during summer. This year, as of February, 47 previously uninspected water play facilities were selected from 19 cities and counties where aquatic facilities exceed 20 facilities.

The investigation targets 7 types of waterborne viruses that cause hand-foot-mouth disease, viral conjunctivitis, and gastroenteritis (enterovirus, norovirus, rotavirus, adenovirus, astrovirus, sapovirus, and hepatitis A virus), Legionella which causes pneumonia, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa which causes sepsis.

Oh Jo-gyo, director of the Gyeonggi Province Institute of Health and Environment, said, "We hope this investigation will help prevent infectious diseases that can occur from water play and support safe leisure activities for many residents of the province."

Meanwhile, last year the GIHE investigated microbial contamination of 7 types of waterborne viruses at 36 water play facilities, and no infectious pathogens were detected at any of the facilities.