Accurate monitoring and control of antimicrobial agents (biocides) are necessary to maintain optimum performance of industrial water systems. Evaluation of many biocides on-site is often difficult due to a lack of
accurate field methods. For many non-oxidizing biocides, no field methods are available, The use of a bioluminescence bioassay allows on-site measurement of actual effective toxicant. This technology is based on a bioluminescence bioassay that measures the decrease in light output of a specific bacterium over a given time period in the presence of a toxicant. This response can be accurately correlated to the concentration of toxicant present. This system can also be used to monitor the response of microbiological populations to treatment
programs by monitoring shifts in ATP levels. On-line dosage/monitoring control of a biocide product can be achieved by the addition of an inert fluorescent tracer molecule to a biocide formulation. The benefits of these traced biocides include precise documentation and on-line control of product feed and discharge, measurement of syste consumption, and measurement of biocide concentration gradients throughout a system. The attributes of these new approaches to biocide effectiveness monitoring allow for more efficient and economical microbiological
treatment of industrird water systems.
Keywords: Biocide, Fluorescent Tracer, Fluorometer, HTI (Holding Time Index), On-Line Monitoring, ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), On-Site Analyses