You are here:
Disinfection and flushing of aircraft water systems
Citation:
Szabo, Jeff, M. Rodgers, AND J. Mistry. Disinfection and flushing of aircraft water systems. U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC, EPA/600/S-18/381, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
The goal of this project was to better understand how aircraft drinking water systems become contaminated with bacteria and to investigate remedies. Under the Aircraft Drinking Water Rule, drinking water systems in commercial United States flagged aircraft are categorized as Transient Non-Community Water Systems. As such, airline employees collect total coliform bacteria samples and conduct disinfection and flushing of the water system on a routine, approved schedule. Generally, coliform bacteria are not harmful, but, when detected in water systems, they indicate that other potentially harmful fecal bacteria could be present. This project allowed EPA Region 6 Aircraft Drinking Water Rule staff to better comprehend the mechanics involved in aircraft water systems. In addition, this Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE) project has fostered greater trust between the air carrier industry and EPA offices by allowing EPA’s regional and ORD staff to interact with aircraft manufacturers, air carrier maintenance teams, and air carrier environmental staff throughout the research effort.
Description:
This project focused on identifying the bacteria that are the potential sources of positive total coliform assays, on locating potential hotspots for bacterial colonization within aircraft plumbing materials, and on investigating the effectiveness of the airline industry’s current disinfection and flushing procedures. These data can be used by air carriers to understand how long to let a Purogene® solution, a commercial product, activate in order to achieve the appropriate chlorine dioxide concentration in the aircraft water system during disinfection and flushing.