On the way to ‘biologically stable’ drinking water

Preventing biofouling

Drinking water in the Netherlands is distributed without any persistent disinfectant. To prevent the occurrence of undesirable (micro)biological processes, which can negatively affect the aesthetic and microbial quality of the drinking water during its storage and distribution, the aspiration is to produce ‘biologically stable’ drinking water: drinking water in which little or no biofouling occurs during storage and distribution.

Benefit of renewed CBM

Biofouling is caused by biofilm formation (growth) combined with biomass accumulation (adsorption). To monitor both processes, in 2015 the CBM was adjusted to make it able to simultaneously determine both the biofilm-forming and biomass-accumulating properties of drinking water. With the renewed CBM it is possible to estimate, for instance, the extent to which flushing is successful in cleaning the distribution area, thus improving the drinking water quality and preventing undesirable (micro)biological processes.