Total microbe test kit for water

Melaklean has released a multipurpose microbial test kit which can be used to determine the quality of drinking water, wastewater, cooling-tower water and recycled water. The kit is easy to use and provides test results in 24 hours. The test kit is suitable for aerobic bacteria and can show presence of Coliform, E.coli, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter, Listeria, Legionella and other species.

The test solution changes colour depending on the level of bacterial contamination. The colour is compared with an easy-to-read colour chart fitted on the test device itself.

In cooling-tower water the Total Microbe test can perform both presence (total) or activity (untreated) measurements.

The presence measurement is the total number of microbes present at the time of testing. The total presence concentration includes both viable, replicating microbes (active) and near death or incapacitated microbes (inactive).

The activity measurement is the number of microbes which are viable and replicating. This measurement is the count of microbes unaffected by the biocide. As the concentration of uninhibited microbes, the 'active' microbe count is a good basis for determining when new biocide additions should be made. For example, if the presence count is 105 and the activity count by Total Microbe is 102, the microbial counts are not in conflict but accurate. The cooling tower is in control.

The difference between the presence and activity measurements in this case represents the count of microbes which have been inhibited by the biocide being used at that biocide's concentration level. Further additions of the same biocide at these low activity levels which do not decrease the activity count could increase the risk of bio-filming as the active or biocide tolerant microbes are apt to be stimulated to increase levels of polysaccharide production.

If the sample water contains a high concentration of fungi, the fungi (eukaryotic cells) will ingest the active indicator, reduce it and turn pink. Total Microbe will provide fungi detection when present at high levels. The red specs represent fungi colonies which are producing polysaccharides and they are looking for surfaces (side walls) to attach themselves to (filming). Fungi specs will be irregular in size and shape. One or two specs in a Total Microbe versus 20 or 30 are a relative indication of concentration level and environmental stress.