Citation:

Szabo, Jeff, M. Rodgers, J. Mistry, J. Steenbock, J. Hoelle, AND J. Hall. The effectiveness of disinfection and flushing procedures to prevent coliform persistence in aircraft water systems. JOURNAL OF WATER SUPPLY: RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY - AQUA. IWA Publishing, London, Uk, , 1-8, (2018).

Impact/Purpose:

This study was designed to determine coliform persistence in an aircraft water system and the effectiveness of commonly used disinfection and flushing procedures. A full-scale reproduction of an aircraft drinking water system was constructed at the Test and Evaluation (T&E) facility in Cincinnati, Ohio. The water system was conditioned using municipal tap water with a mixture of free chlorine and chloramines, and subsequently contaminated with coliforms. Disinfection was undertaken using two common airline industry methods: chlorine dioxide at 100 mg/L (or higher) for two hours, and ozone at 1 mg/L (or higher) for 5 minutes. After disinfection, the water system was flushed until no disinfectant residual remained and then filled with treated municipal drinking water.

Description:

Maintaining safe water on board commercial aircraft is critical to the safety of passengers and compliance with regulations. The conclusions from this study can help commercial air carriers deliver safe water by indicating that coliform bacteria are not persistent on aircraft plumbing surfaces, and that coliforms are not detected in aircraft water systems after routine disinfection and flushing procedures are implemented.

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