Water quality and daily temperature cycle affect biofilm formation in drip irrigation devices revealed by optical coherence tomography

Jueying Qian*, Harald Horn, Jorge Tarchitzky, Yona Chen, Sagi Katz, Michael Wagner

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Drip irrigation is a water-saving technology. To date, little is known about how biofilm forms in drippers of irrigation systems. In this study, the internal dripper geometry was recreated in 3-D printed microfluidic devices (MFDs). To mimic the temperature conditions in (semi-) arid areas, experiments were conducted in a temperature controlled box between 20 and 50°C. MFDs were either fed with two different treated wastewater (TWW) or synthetic wastewater. Biofilm formation was monitored non-invasively and in situ by optical coherence tomography (OCT). 3-D OCT datasets reveal the major fouling position and illustrate that biofilm development was influenced by fluid dynamics. Biofilm volumetric coverage of the labyrinth up to 60% did not reduce the discharge rate, whereas a further increase to 80% reduced the discharge rate by 50%. Moreover, the biofilm formation rate was significantly inhibited in daily temperature cycle independent of the cultivation medium used.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)211-221
Number of pages11
JournalBiofouling
Volume33
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Mar 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • biofilm formation
  • daily temperature cycle
  • Drip irrigation
  • microfluidic devices
  • optical coherence tomography

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Water quality and daily temperature cycle affect biofilm formation in drip irrigation devices revealed by optical coherence tomography'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this