Dynamics of drinking water biofilm in flow/non-flow conditions

Abstract

Drinking water biofilm formation on polyvinyl chloride (PVC), cross-linked polyethylene (PEX), high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) was followed in three different reactors operating under stagnant or continuous flow regimes. After one week, a quasi-steady state was achieved where biofilm total cell numbers per unit surface area were not affected by fluctuations in the concentration of suspended cells. Metabolically active cells in biofilms were around 17–35% of the total cells and 6–18% were able to form colony units in R 2A medium. Microbiological analysis showed that the adhesion material and reactor design did not affect significantly the biofilm growth. However, operating under continuous flow (0.8–1.9 Pa) or stagnant water had a significant effect on biofilm formation: in stagnant waters, biofilm grew to a less extent. By applying mass balances and an asymptotic biofilm formation model to data from biofilms grown on PVC and HDPE surfaces under turbulent flow, specific growth rates of bacteria in the biofilm were found to be similar for both materials (around 0.15 day −1) and much lower than the specific growth rates of suspended bacteria (around 1.8 day −1).