Produce growers using surface or well water to irrigate their crops may require an appropriate water treatment system in place to meet the water quality standard imposed by FSMA Produce Safety Rule. This study evaluated the potential of using ultraviolet (UV‐C) treatment in reducing the microbial population in agricultural water. Waters with turbidity levels ranging from 10.93 to 23.32 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) were prepared by mixing pond water and well water. The waters were inoculated with a cocktail of generic Escherichia coli (ATCC 23716, 25922, and 11775) and then treated with UV‐C light (20–60 mJ/cm²). All tested doses of the UV‐C treatment reduced the E. coli levels significantly (p < .05) in the water samples with the turbidity levels up to 23.32 NTU. The decrease in the turbidity from 23.32 to 10.93 NTU increased the level of reduction by more than 2.15 log most probable number (MPN)/100 ml). UV‐C treatment effectively reduces microbial load in agriculture water; however, turbidity of water may significantly affect the disinfection efficacy. The study also demonstrated that sprinkler system resulted in a higher level of contamination of cantaloupes compared with drip irrigation. The results indicated that UV‐C treatment could be a promising strategy in reducing the produce safety risks associated with irrigation water.

中文翻译：

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紫外线（UV-C）处理对不同浊度农业水中微生物灭活的评估

使用地表水或井水灌溉作物的农产品种植者可能需要适当的水处理系统，以符合FSMA产品安全规则规定的水质标准。这项研究评估了使用紫外线（UV-C）处理减少农业用水中微生物种群的潜力。通过混合池塘水和井水来制备浊度为10.93至23.32的浊度单位（NTU）水。的水都包含通用的混合物进行接种大肠杆菌 大肠杆菌（ATCC 23716，25922，和11775），然后用UV-C光（20-60毫焦耳/厘米处理²）。所有测试剂量的UV-C处理的减小E. 大肠杆菌显著水平（p 浊度水平最高为23.32 NTU的水样中的<0.05）。浊度从23.32 NTU降低到10.93 NTU，降低的水平超过2.15 log最可能数（MPN）/ 100 ml）。UV-C处理可有效减少农业用水中的微生物负荷；但是，水的浊度可能会显着影响消毒效果。研究还表明，与滴灌相比，洒水系统对哈密瓜的污染程度更高。结果表明，UV-C处理可能是减少与灌溉水相关的产品安全风险的有前途的策略。