ELGA PROCESS WATER has introduced a new monitoring tool to help in microbiological control of water systems.
Bactiquant-water is a simple to operate test system that gives a rapid indication of total viable bacteria count – a test which normally takes two or three days – in under an hour. This means that system performance can be monitored on a day-to-day basis, and any deviations from normal conditions can be detected early. Bacteria from a measured sample volume of water are concentrated by a membrane filter. A fluorescent labelled enzyme substrate is added and the filter unit is incubated for 10-30 minutes allowing bacterial enzymes to react with the substrate to form a fluorescent product. The number of bacteria is estimated by measuring the amount of fluorescence using a hand-held fluorometer. The signal produced is directly proportional to the amount of bacteria present, and scientific studies have documented good correlations between Bactiquant-water and conventional plate counts and microscopic methods.
