An overview on the reactors to study drinking water biofilms

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

I. B. Gomes (Author) FEUP; M. Simões (Author) FEUP; L. C. Simões (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Water Research

Vol. 62

Pages: 63-87

ISSN: 0043-1354

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge

ISI Web of Science

Scopus

Pubmed / Medline

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology

CORDIS: Technological sciences

Associated Projects

SUSCLEAN - Sustainable Cleaning and Disinfection in Fresh-Cut Food Industries

Fitodesinfetantes - Desinfeção de bactérias planctónicas e biofilmes em ambientes hospitalares com produtos fitoquímicos

Other information

Abstract (EN): The development of biofilms in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) can cause pipe degradation, changes in the water organoleptic properties but the main problem is related to the public health. Biofilms are the main responsible for the microbial presence in drinking water (DW) and can be reservoirs for pathogens. Therefore, the understanding of the mechanisms underlying biofilm formation and behavior is of utmost importance in order to create effective control strategies. As the study of biofilms in real DWDS is difficult, several devices have been developed. These devices allow biofilm formation under controlled conditions of physical (flow velocity, shear stress, temperature, type of pipe material, etc), chemical (type and amount of nutrients, type of disinfectant and residuals, organic and inorganic particles, ions, etc) and biological (composition of microbial community e type of microorganism and characteristics) parameters, ensuring that the operational conditions are similar as possible to the DWDS conditions in order to achieve results that can be applied to the real scenarios. The devices used in DW biofilm studies can be divided essentially in two groups, those usually applied in situ and the bench top laboratorial reactors. The selection of a device should be obviously in accordance with the aim of the study and its advantages and limitations should be evaluated to obtain reproducible results that can be transposed into the reality of the DWDS. The aim of this review is to provide an overview on the main reactors used in DW biofilm studies, describing their characteristics and applications, taking into account their main advantages and limitations.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 25