• isolation of bacterial strains from drinking water • studying interspecies interactions in biofilm formation How clean is your drinking water? Microbiology of urban water systems: an interdisciplinary approach Peter Deines 1,2,3 , Mark Osborn 2 , Joby Boxall 3 & Catherine Biggs 1 1 Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, The University of Sheffield, UK 2 Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, The University of Sheffield, UK 3 Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The University of Sheffield, UK P-161 LIF QuickTime™ and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture. P5-2 P2-1 P4-1 P1-1 P4-2 P5-1 Why study drinking water distribution systems? The formation of microbial biofilms on pipe walls causes following problems: • public health problems - pathogens • aesthetic problems - undesirable tastes, odours, visual turbidity • major costs for water companies through microbial growth Science objective: Design innovative and effective controls strategies that will ensure safe and high-quality drinking water low- nutrient environme nt Field studies Experimental lab work Laboratory pipe test facility 4 1 5 3 7 • planktonic microbial community composition in natural systems • community profiling of planktonic and biofilm microbial communities in response to changing conditions Conditions to be tested: • hydraulics • temperature • water quality • studying biofilm characteristics Drinking water - an Ecosystem Biofilm dispersal and detachment Matrix for the survival of pathogens multicellul ar structures biofilm nutrient stress triggers aggregation planktonic cells • water age and diversity References Figures taken from: Stoodley et al. 2002, Vreeburg et al. 2007, www.ehu.sbs.soton.ac.uk/art/biofilm (modified) Fast growing cells Slow growing cells Pathogens Water channel [email protected]