Effectiveness of bromicide against Legionella pneumophila in a cooling tower

• Main Authors: Fliermans, C.B., Harvey, R.S.
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: 63 RADIATION; THERMAL; AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.; COOLING TOWERS; WATER TREATMENT; DISINFECTANTS; BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS; DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; HALOGENATION; LEGIONELLA PNEUMOPHILA; ORGANIC BROMINE COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS; UREA; AMIDES; BACTERIA; CARBONIC ACID DERIVATIVES; CHEMICAL REACTIONS; DATA; GERMICIDES; INFORMATION; MECHANICAL STRUCTURES; MICROORGANISMS; NUMERICAL DATA; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS; TOWERS; Carbonic acid
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5740983; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5740983; https://doi.org/10.2172/5740983

Cooling towers are considered to be man-made amplifiers of Legionella. Thus the proper maintenance and choice of biocides is important. The only biocide that has thus far been shown to be effective in field tests is the judicious use of chlorination. Perturbation studies were conducted on an industrial cooling tower shown to contain Legionella, using 1-bromo-3-chloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (Bromicide, Great Lakes Chemical Corp.). At the manufacturer's recommended concentrations neither the density nor the activity of Legionella was affected. At concentrations greater than 2.0 ppM free residual, the Bromicide was not effective in reducing Legionella to source water concentrations, nor was it effective in reducing the INT activity of the bacterium in situ. The data indicate that at concentrations up to 2.0 ppM, Bromicide is not effective in these tower studies. 23 references, 3 tables.