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S Fass

Publications and source records attributed to S Fass.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Coliform culturability in over- versus undersaturated drinking waters.

The culturability of Escherichia coli in undersaturated drinking water with respect to CaCO3 (corrosive water) or in oversaturated water (non-corrosive water) was tested in different reactors: glass flasks (batch, "non-reactive" wall); glass reactors (chemostat, "non-reactive" wall) versus a corroded cast iron Propella reactor (chemostat, "reactive" wall) and a 15-year-old distribution system pilot (chemostat, "reactive" wall with 1% corroded cast iron and 99% cement-lined cast iron). The E. coli in E. coli-spiked drinking water was not able to maintain its culturability and colonize the experimental systems. It appears from our results that the optimal pH for maintaining E. coli culturability was around 8.2 or higher. However, in reactors with a reactive wall (corroded cast iron), the decline in E. coli culturability was slower when the pH was adjusted to 7.9 or 7.7 (i.e. a reactor fed with corrosive water; pH pHs). We tentatively deduce that corrosion products coming from chemical reactions driven by corrosive waters on the pipe wall improve E. coli culturability.

Bioreactors↗

Release of organic matter in a discontinuously chlorinated drinking water network.

The effects of discontinuous chlorination on the characteristics of the water in a pilot drinking water distribution network were investigated. The release or consumption of organic matter (as dissolved organic carbon, DOC) following chlorination and non-chlorination periods were estimated, as were changes in bacterial cell production. In each unchlorinated network 0.3 mg DOCl(-1) was consumed and the average cell production was approximately 1.3 x 10(5) cells ml(-1). In discontinously chlorinated networks (chlorine treatment: 3.3 mg Cl2l(-1), chlorine residual: 0.1 mg Cl2l(-1)) the DOC release (DOCout-DOCin) was between 0.1 and 0.2 mg Cl(-1). Biomass production (cells(out)-cells(in)) during this chlorination period was lower (approximately 2 x 10(4) cells ml(-1)). The delay before DOC was released in chlorinated networks appeared to be less than 24 h, which corresponds to one hydraulic residence time. Likewise, when chlorination was stopped, 24 h or less were required before an efficient DOC removal was resumed. When chlorination was prolonged the observed release of DOC was progressively reduced from 0.2 mg l(-1) to zero, thus after 6 weeks of continuous chlorination the DOCin was equivalent to the DOCout.

Biofilms↗

Relationship between coliform culturability and organic matter in low nutritive waters.

The objective of this work was to investigate the behaviour of coliform bacteria in specific low nutritive waters conveying organic fractions from different origin of which an unknown part is likely to pass through the treatment barrier. For this purpose, we studied the growth (microscopic counting) and the culturability (count on nutritive medium) of ten coliform bacteria species as a function of the amount of organic matter in a river water collected after a period of heavy rain and in an algal bloom water. Assays were carried out in the presence of autochthonous heterotrophic bacteria from the Nancy (France) drinking water, with variable concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) representative of drinking waters (0.5-1.5 mg l(-1) for diluted river water samples and 1.3-2.5 mg l(-1) for diluted algal bloom water samples). Bacterial growth was measured in the two types of water, regardless of the initial concentration of DOC. We found that coliform bacteria lost their culturability in both sample series, and that the lower the initial DOC concentration the more rapidly the culturability was lost. The quantity of DOC consumed by the bacteria in the two water types (0.03-0.13 mg l(-1) in river water and 0.77-1.29 mg l(-1) in algal bloom water) and the resulting consequences on bacterial behaviour suggested that bloom water contains algal organic compounds that are antagonistic to the growth and/or the culturability of coliform bacteria. Organic matter thresholds, beyond which coliform bacteria are unlikely to keep their culturability, have not been determined experimentally. Indeed, at the end of the assays some culturable coliform bacteria were systematically detected in both types of water. Enterobacter cloacae was the predominant species. Thus, during these adverse events the probability of coliform occurrence can be considered as high in treated water.

Enterobacteriaceae↗