Microbiology, chemistry and biofilm development in a pilot drinking water distribution system with copper and plastic pipes.

We studied the changes in water quality and formation of biofilms occurring in a pilot-scale water distribution system with two generally used pipe materials: copper and plastic (polyethylene, PE). The formation of biofilms with time was analysed as the number of total bacteria, heterotrophic plate counts and the concentration of ATP in biofilms. At the end of the experiment (after 308 days), microbial community structure, viable biomass and gram-negative bacterial biomass were analysed via lipid biomarkers (phospholipid fatty acids and lipopolysaccharide 3-hydroxy fatty acids), and the numbers of virus-like particles and total bacteria were enumerated by SYBR Green I staining. The formation of biofilm was slower in copper pipes than in the PE pipes, but after 200 days there was no difference in microbial numbers between the pipe materials. Copper ion led to lower microbial numbers in water during the first 200 days, but thereafter there were no differences between the two pipe materials. The number of virus-like particles was lower in biofilms and in outlet water from the copper pipes than PE pipes. Pipe material influenced also the microbial and gram-negative bacterial community structure in biofilms and water.

[1]  K. Wommack,et al.  Virioplankton: Viruses in Aquatic Ecosystems , 2000, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

[2]  P. Hartemann,et al.  Water and nontuberculous mycobacteria , 1999 .

[3]  A. Camper,et al.  Effect of growth conditions and substratum composition on the persistence of coliforms in mixed-population biofilms , 1996, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[4]  D. Hempel,et al.  Behaviour of biofilm systems under varying hydrodynamic conditions. , 2004, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[5]  H. Albrechtsen,et al.  Bulk water phase and biofilm growth in drinking water at low nutrient conditions. , 2002, Water research.

[6]  L. Melo,et al.  Biofilms--science and technology , 1992 .

[7]  D. White,et al.  Quantitative comparisons ofin situ microbial biodiversity by signature biomarker analysis , 1996, Journal of Industrial Microbiology.

[8]  P. Martikainen,et al.  A New Sensitive Bioassay for Determination of Microbially Available Phosphorus in Water , 1999, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[9]  M. Lechevallier,et al.  Survival of Mycobacterium avium in a model distribution system. , 2004, Water research.

[10]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Bacterial biofilm formation on polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and stainless steel exposed to ozonated water , 2000 .

[11]  Dirk van der Kooij,et al.  Determining the concentration of easily assimilable organic carbon in drinking water , 1982 .

[12]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Phosphorus and bacterial growth in drinking water , 1997, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[13]  M. Parsek,et al.  Heavy Metal Resistance of Biofilm and Planktonic Pseudomonas aeruginosa , 2003, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[14]  S. Macnaughton,et al.  Quantitative lipid biomarker detection of unculturable microbes and chlorine exposure in water distribution system biofilms , 2000 .

[15]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric detection of 2- and 3-hydroxy fatty acids as methyl esters from soil, sediment and biofilm. , 2003, Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences.

[16]  M. Lechevallier,et al.  A Pilot Study of Bacteriological Population Changes through Potable Water Treatment and Distribution , 2000, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[17]  K. Killham,et al.  Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in private drinking water wells: influences of protozoan grazing and elevated copper concentrations. , 2002, FEMS microbiology letters.

[18]  Tatsuki Ueda,et al.  Fate of indigenous bacteriophage in a membrane bioreactor , 2000 .

[19]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Soft deposits, the key site for microbial growth in drinking water distribution networks. , 2001, Water research.

[20]  C. Gerba,et al.  Synergistic inactivation of Escherichia coli and MS-2 coliphage by chloramine and cupric chloride , 1995 .

[21]  P. Martikainen,et al.  The Microbial Community Structure of Drinking Water Biofilms Can Be Affected by Phosphorus Availability , 2002, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[22]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Determination of assimilable organic carbon in humus-rich drinking waters , 1999 .

[23]  S A Mueller,et al.  Literature review--efficacy of various disinfectants against Legionella in water systems. , 2002, Water research.

[24]  N. Cromar,et al.  Biofilms and microbially influenced cuprosolvency in domestic copper plumbing systems , 2001, Journal of applied microbiology.

[25]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Biofilm formation in drinking water affected by low concentrations of phosphorus. , 2002, Canadian journal of microbiology.

[26]  P. Servais,et al.  Bacterial development in distribution networks : study and modelling , 1993 .

[27]  Charles P. Gerba,et al.  The molecular mechanisms of copper and silver ion disinfection of bacteria and viruses , 1988 .

[28]  Michael Steinert,et al.  Legionella pneumophila: an aquatic microbe goes astray. , 2002, FEMS microbiology reviews.

[29]  K. Schleifer,et al.  Microbiological safety of drinking water. , 2000, Annual review of microbiology.

[30]  P. Servais,et al.  Impacts of pipe materials on densities of fixed bacterial biomass in a drinking water distribution system , 2000 .

[31]  J. Hobbie,et al.  Use of nuclepore filters for counting bacteria by fluorescence microscopy , 1977, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[32]  R. Noble.  Enumeration of viruses , 2001 .

[33]  H. Mosbaek,et al.  Identification of organic compounds migrating from polyethylene pipelines into drinking water. , 2002, Water research.

[34]  S. Percival,et al.  Potable water and biofilms: A review of the public health implications , 1999 .

[35]  R. Summers,et al.  Comparative measurements of microbial activity in drinking water biofilters. , 2001, Water research.

[36]  Ursula Obst,et al.  Formation and bacterial composition of young, natural biofilms obtained from public bank-filtered drinking water systems , 1998 .

[37]  E. Geldreich,et al.  A new medium for the enumeration and subculture of bacteria from potable water , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[38]  S. Saby,et al.  Biofilms in Drinking Water Distribution Systems , 2003 .

[39]  H. Fallowfield,et al.  Effect of distribution system bacterial biofilms on copper concentrations in drinking water , 2001 .