Mechanisms of Bacterial Survival in Chlorinated Drinking Water

Abstract

Experiments showed that attachment of bacteria to surfaces provided the greatest increase in disinfection resistance. Attachment of high nutrient grown, unencapsulated, Klebsiellapneumoniae to glass microscope slides afforded the microorganisms as much as a 150 fold increase in disinfection resistance. Other mechanisms which increased disinfection resistance included: the age of the biofilm, bacterial encapsulation and previous growth conditions (e.g. growth medium, and growth temperature). These factors increased chlorine resistance from two to ten fold. The choice of disinfectant residual was shown to influence the type of resistance mechanism observed. Disinfection by free chlorine was affected by surfaces, age of the biofilm, encapsulation and nutrient effects. Disinfection by monochloramine, however, was only affected by surfaces. Importantly, the research showed that these resistance mechanisms were multiplicative (e.g. the resistance provided by one mechanism could be multiplied by the resistance provided by a second). These results provide important insights to understand the survival of bacteria in chlorinated drinking water supplies.