Efficacy of Treating Waterborne Pathogens with the Antimicrobials Trichloromelamine, Ozone, and Acetic Acid

Abstract

The use of reclaimed water systems is increasing the need for easy-to-use and cost effective disinfectants available for consumer application. This study looked at efficacy of three disinfectants, trichloromelamine (TCM), ozone, and acetic acid, and their ability to reduce number of pathogens. Four samples of TCM were tested in a 10mL contaminated water to 1mL TCM solution ratio, plated for both total plate counts and to check for generic E.coli. It was observed that TCM 3 was able to give a 92.54 percent reduction of E.coli and was the only sample able to kill the E.coli that was present in the water. The other TCM solutions had percent reductions of, TCM1: 98.77, TCM2: 97.34, and TCM4: 87.64. Similar tests were conducted with ozone and mixtures. Ozonated brine water, and ozone mixed with acetic acid were both 100% effective at reducing bacterial load in the water samples (99.98 and 100%, respectively). The ozone was not as effective, with 85.7% reduction. These results indicate that TCM and ozone could be effective tools for consumer use to disinfect water holding tanks. More testing needs to be done in order to find out exactly how effective the disinfectants are in the long term.