Impact of Zinc Orthophosphate on Simulated Drinking Water Biofilms Influenced by Lead and Copper
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 2
Abstract
Phosphate, a key nutrient for bacterial growth, is also a key component of many corrosion-control programs to manage lead and copper corrosion in premise plumbing. Bench-scale stagnant water galvanic macrocells with lead and copper components were fed with drinking water containing three levels of zinc orthophosphate [0 (control), 1, and ]. Suspended polycarbonate coupons, representing benign downstream fixtures, were placed in the macrocells, thus enabling biofilm formation on this material. Community profiling using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (16S rDNA PCR-DGGE) revealed that phosphate dose (primarily) and metal type (to a lesser extent) influenced biofilm community diversity. Generally, community diversity increased with increasing heterotrophic plate counts that in turn rose in response to elevated phosphate. Partial 16s rDNA sequences obtained from DGGE gel bands identified the dominant bacterial taxa as the phyla Verrumicrobia, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and -Proteobacteria. The increase in size and diversity of biofilm communities as a result of phosphate treatment further highlights the challenges of a phosphate corrosion-control program.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Mike Schock and especially Colin White at the U.S. EPA for their insight and encouragement to continue with this research and Drs. Martin Kalmokoff and Greg Benzanson at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for their technical support and guidance in developing and interpreting the DGGE results. The authors also thank John Bergese, Matthew P. King and Karolina Smiech for their contribution to operating the experimental apparatus, as well as Dr. Corinne Krentz for her help in optimizing the DGGE process. The authors also acknowledge the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Halifax Water industrial chair for their financial support for this research. The authors also thank the Atlantic Innovation Fund and Halifax Water for their support of the Clean Water Technology Laboratory at Dalhousie University and the Canada Foundation for Innovation for their financial support of the ICP-MS.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 2 • February 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 9, 2014
Accepted: Aug 5, 2015
Published online: Oct 1, 2015
Published in print: Feb 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Mar 1, 2016
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