Hydrogeographical and microbial characterization of two different alpine karst spring waters
| Parameter1 | Unit | LKAS2 | DKAS1 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | Range min–max | Median | Range min–max | ||||||||
| Q | (L sec−1) | 4188 | 902–15,479 | 303 | 241–373 | ||||||
| EC | (μS cm−1) | 200.7 | 156.2–224.0 | 339.0 | 333.0–354.9 | ||||||
| SAC | (m−1) | 1.40 | 0.44–3.89 | n.d. | n.d. | ||||||
| TUR | (NTU) | 0.19 | 0.03–0.96 | n.d. | n.d. | ||||||
| TEMP | (°C) | 5.50 | 4.09–5.95 | 6.67 | 6.61–6.77 | ||||||
| HPC222 | (CFU/mL) | 31.5 | 0–420 | 0 | 0–33 | ||||||
| E. coli | (CFU/100 mL) | 2.5 | 0–230 | 0 | 0–103 | ||||||
| PN | (106 cells L−1) | 50.6 | 25.6–84.9 | 13.2 | 8.0–19.0 | ||||||
| PN-R | (106 cells L−1) | 30.6 | 25.6–84.9 | 6.5 | 4.0–9.6 | ||||||
| PN-C | (106 cells L−1) | 14.8 | 6.8–30.7 | 6.1 | 3.6–10.9 | ||||||
| PN-V | (106 cells L−1) | 3.2 | 0.5–7.7 | 0.5 | 0.2–2.0 | ||||||
| VN | (107 viruses L−1) | 94.4 | 5.5–317 | 10.9 | 1.1–37.6 | ||||||
| HNF | (106 cells L−1) | 10.9 | 3.3–50.7 | 3.3 | 0.8–12.8 | ||||||
| PB | (nmol C L−1) | 63.2 | 32.0–106.1 | 13.8 | 8.0–16.3 | ||||||
| VB | (nmol C L−1) | 15.7 | 0.9–52.8 | 1.8 | 0.2–6.3 | ||||||
| HNF-B | (nmol C L−1) | 8.9 | 2.7–41.7 | 2.7 | 0.7–10.5 | ||||||
| TB | (nmol C L−1) | 87.8 | 35.6–200.6 | 18.3 | 8.9–33.1 | ||||||
Q, discharge; EC, electrical conductivity; SAC, spectral absorbance coefficient at 254 nm; TUR, turbidity; NTU, nephalometric turbidity unite; TEMP, temperature; HPC, heterotrophic plate count; E. coli, Escherichia coli abundance according to ISO 9308-1; PN, prokaryotic number; PN-R, rod-shaped PN; PN-C, coccus-shaped PN; PN-V, vibrio-shaped PN; VN, viral abundance by epifluoresence microscopy; HNF, heterotrophic nanoflagellate abundance; PB, prokaryotic biomass; VB, viral biomass; HNF-B, heterotrophic nanoflagellates biomass; TB, total biomass; n.d., not detected (proven to be stable, see Material and Methods).
Samples were taken monthly over a 3-year-period (n = 40).
HPC at 22°C.
These parameters were only detected twice throughout the study.