[Effect of chloramines disinfection for biofilm formation control on copper and stainless steel pipe materials]

Two rotating annular bioreactors (RABs) with copper and stainless steel pipe materials were adopted in the study, the effects of these two pipe materials and chloramines disinfection on biofilms formation in drinking water distribution system were evaluated. The maximum viable bacterial number in biofilm of copper and stainless steel reached 5.5 x 10(3) CFU/cm2 and 2.5 x 10(5) CFU/cm2 at 18th and 21st day without chloramines, and the viable bacterial number at the apparent steady state was 1.0 x 10(3) CFU/cm2 and 1.3 x 10(5) CFU/cm2 respectively. It was obvious that the biomass on copper materials was lower than that of the stainless steel. The maximum viable bacterial on copper and stainless steel under chloramines was 5.0 x 10(2) CFU/cm2 and 5.0 x 10(4) CFU/cm2, which was one order of magnitude lower than that of without chloramines, and its number was 10 CFU/cm2 and 3.5 x 10(4) CFU/cm2 at the steady state. These results illustrated that chloramines had apparent ability in controlling biomass when the biofilm was on steady states, especially for copper material. There was exponential relationship between biomass in biofilm and residue chloramines, which meant less biomass with more chloramines, synergistic effects were observed between chloramines and copper materials on biomass in biofilms inactivation.