COMPARISON OF A RAPID BIOLUMINESCENCE-BASED ASSIMILABLE ORGANIC CARBON (AOC) ASSAY WITH THE STANDARD METHOD

摘要

Microbial growth can be a significant issue for reverse osmosis (RO) and microfiltration (MF) processes in the water industry. Microbial growth or regrowth can affect plant performance and increases plant operation costs. Assimilable Organic Carbon (AOC) is the fraction of the total organic carbon (TOC) that bacteria can use for growth and other metabolic processes. Several published bioassays for measuring AOC are available to water utilities; however, AOC concentrations are not routinely measured due to the complexity and difficulty of the methods. The objective of this study was to design a rapid bioluminescent assay that is reliable and sensitive for monitoring low concentrations of AOC. The rapid bioluminescent assay was evaluated and compared with the standard growth-based AOC assay. The performances of both assays are presented. It was determined that the bioluminescent based AOC assay was rapid, reduced monitoring costs, increased sensitivity, and reliably measured low concentrations of AOC in surface water samples.