Moving beyond silver in point-of-use drinking water pathogen control

Abstract

Managing drinking water-associated pathogens that can cause infections in immunocompromised individuals is a persistent challenge, particularly for healthcare facilities where occupant exposures carry a substantial health risk. Incremental advances in point-of-use (POU) devices and modified polymer materials now flood the market, promising to reduce cell concentrations and control biofilm formation. The current leading antimicrobial POU design incorporates silver (Ag), a long standing bacteriostatic used across wide ranging industries. This perspective highlights critical knowledge gaps and fundamental shortcomings associated with existing study designs in the silver-containing POU literature as well as the chemical and microbial processes that underline ongoing critical considerations for pathogen control in drinking water. As a result, we highlight the opportunity to leverage ongoing material discovery and collaboration across disciplines to move us closer towards an affordable, low maintenance approach that addresses the persistent pathogens challenge in drinking water.