Matters Microbial #72: Who is in Your Water?

January 2, 2025

Today, Dr. Ameet Pinto, Carlton S. Wilder Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the microbiome of drinking water and how it can be used to optimize safety and health. 

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Ameet Pinto

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Links for this episode

• A short review of a famous article by Dr. Norman Pace about the microbiome of showers and how microbial populations differed due to chlorination.
• An old discussion of microbial oligotrophy:  the ability to survive on very low levels of nutrients.
• The story of John Snow, a water fountain, and cholera in England.
• The concept of “Live/Dead” staining of microbes.
• An overview of the concept of metagenomics.
• An article on the microbiome of shower hoses.
• A public science outreach program to study the microbiome of showerheads.
• The Instagram link for Dr. Pinto’s wonderful cat, Nessie.
• A great book describing exceptions to Mendelian genetics using cats:  “Cats Are Not Peas.”  Highly recommended.
• An article about water supplies and the pathogenic microbe Legionella.
• An overview of water disinfection techniques.
• An introduction to a model system of a microbial soil community, called THOR by Jo Handelsman and colleagues.
• Thinking of water treatment and related technologies as a series of ecological niches, via Tom Curtis and Bill Sloane.
• Dr. Pinto’s faculty website.
• Dr. Pinto’s deeply fascinating research group website.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com