Chlorination and bacterial contamination. Hospitals with troubled waters

OBJECTIVE: To know the quality of the water from hospitals and the risks that poor chlorination implies. METHODS: We analyzed 90 water specimens from 15 hospitals (9 from the private and 6 from the public sector). Specimens were obtained from three areas (hospitalization ward, operating room, and kitchen) in two visits. RESULTS: By microbiologic analysis, we found 30 (33.3%) contaminated specimens. By chemical analysis, we found only 49 (54.5%) specimens with adequate chlorination (> or = 1 mg/L). Of the 30 contaminated specimens, only 7 (23.3%) had adequate chlorination. On the other hand, of the 60 specimens without contamination, 42 (79%) had adequate chlorination (chi2 = 17.561, p or = 0.5 mg/L. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals require guidelines for water chlorination and testing to maintain it at > or = 0.5 mg/L in every point of use.