In unit gravity, bacteria and disinfecting resin beads co-sediment to the septum in a fluid processing apparatus (FPA) resulting in effective chemical disinfection. In microgravity bacteria in suspension have access to a larger volume of the FPA because of a lack of sedimentation. Further, when disinfecting resin beads are added to the FPA they also remain in suspension reducing their effective concentration. Typically, therefore, disinfection experiments in microgravity return larger numbers of viable bacteria than ground-based controls. Preliminary experiments aboard the MIR Space Station with Pseudomonas aeruginosa additionally suggest that the longer bacteria are retained in microgravity the more resistant they become to chemical disinfection. This phenomenon is probably due to additional time to develop resistant biofilms on the interior of the FPA. To partially solve these problems we have developed additional disinfecting materials to use in conjunction with polyiodide containing resin beads. One of these materials carbon beads coated with 3-trimethoxy silylpropyl dimethyloctadecyl ammonium chloride (Dow-Corning 5700®), acts synergistically with polyiodide resin disinfectants. Carbon beads so treated are still able to remove aqueous iodine from the water stream while providing an additional level of chemical disinfection. This additional capability prevents contamination of the carbon beads with heterotrophic bacteria and insures that bacteria surviving iodine disinfection are efficiently devitalized.


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    Title :

    Resistance to chemical disinfection under conditions of microgravity


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Space technology and applications international forum - 1998 ; 1998 ; Albuquerque,New Mexico (USA)


    Published in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 420 , 1 ; 765-768


    Publication date :

    1998-01-15


    Size :

    4 pages





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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