Effectiveness of devices to monitor biofouling and metals deposition on plumbing materials exposed to a full-scale drinking water distribution system

Maneesha P. Ginige, Scott Garbin, Jason Wylie, K. C. Bal Krishna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A Modified Robbins Device (MRD) was installed in a full-scale water distribution system to investigate biofouling and metal depositions on concrete, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and stainless steel surfaces. Bulk water monitoring and a KIWA monitor (with glass media) were used to offline monitor biofilm development on pipe wall surfaces. Results indicated that adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and metal concentrations on coupons increased with time. However, bacterial diversities decreased. There was a positive correlation between increase of ATP and metal deposition on pipe surfaces of stainless steel and HDPE and no correlation was observed on concrete and glass surfaces. The shared bacterial diversity between bulk water and MRD was less than 20% and the diversity shared between the MRD and KIWA monitor was only 10%. The bacterial diversity on biofilm of plumbing material of MRD however, did not show a significant difference suggesting a lack of influence from plumbing material during early stage of biofilm development.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0169140
Number of pages18
JournalPLoS One
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2017 Ginige et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Keywords

  • biofilms
  • drinking water
  • metals
  • plumbing
  • water quality

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