A study on assessment of biomass production potential of pipe materials in contact with drinking water

The point of compliance in the European Drinking Water Directive is the consumer¿s tap and thus a set of requirements for the quality of materials used in distribution systems is needed. On European level an approval scheme for construction products in contact with drinking water (CPDW) is under development. The Regulators Group proposed in its 12th meeting in 2003 that the Biomass Production Potential (BPP) test should be the basis for assessment of microbial growth support properties of products in contact with drinking water as developed in the CPDW project (2003). The goal of this study is to evaluate the growth promoting properties of selected pipe materials using the BPP test. The pipe materials under study showed different capacity to enhance bacterial growth and their BPP values can be ranked: Cu < SS < PP < PEx < PE < PVCp. The tested materials differed in the contribution of attached biomass (AB) to the total BPP. Materials with a high BPP value and a relatively lower AB/BPP ratio have a higher potential to impair bacteriological water quality. A proportional relation between planktonic bacterial growth in the test water and the BPP of materials under study was observed. We propose that the acceptance of products to be used in contact with drinking water should not solely be made on the evaluation of the BPP value, but should include the evaluation of the PB value.

TSVETANOVA Zvezdimira;  HOEKSTRA Eddo; 

2009-11-06

I W A PUBLISHING

JRC46434

0273-1223,   

http://www.iwaponline.com/ws/00904/0423/009040423.pdf,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC46434,   

10.2166/ws.2009.513,