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Biology/Copper vs bacteria

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Expert: - 2/8/2011


Question
Hi Chris,

I have been reading that copper can kill certain types of bacteria.

I have plastic plumbing in my house; I also have a whole house water filter.  

Do you think that there would be any added benefit if I would install a small length of copper pipe (about 8 inches by ~1/2 diameter) in the middle of the filter?  

Thanks,

Allen

Answer
It is true that copper is bacteriostatic for some types of bacteria.  This means that copper may stop the growth of certain types of bacteria.  It does not mean that existing bacteria are killed, only that their growth is hindered when in contact with copper.  Since only the bacteria in contact with the copper pipe may be affected, installing a section of copper pipe would not provide much of a benefit.  Even if all of your pipes were made of copper, the water flowing through the pipes would only be in contact with the copper for a short time and thus the copper would have little effect on the growth of bacteria within the water itself.  One benefit to having copper pipes is in the prevention of bacterial biofilms growing within the pipe itself.  As water flows through a pipe, some bacteria may attach themselves to the inside of the pipe, and try to grow.  This can produce a slimy film on the inside of the pipe which may grow thicker with time.  However, due to the bacteriostatic properties of copper, pipes made of this material would be less hospitable to the production of these biofilms.

Hope this answers your question,

-C

Biology

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Chris Bemis

Expertise

I will answer questions relating to the identification of bacterial and fungal isolates using phenotypic (macroscopic/microscopic appearance, biochemical bench tests, fatty-acid analysis) as well as genotypic (RiboPrinting) methods. I can also answer questions relating to environmental microbiology, especially those specifically relating to the pharmaceutical industry. I am less familiar with clinical microbiology.

Experience

I have worked within the biotech industry for 9 years, most of that time spent in a Quality Control Microbiology laboratory setting. Within the laboratory, I routinely performed bioburden testing; sterility testing; gel-clot and kinetic LAL testing; biological indicator testing; stability testing; microbial limits testing; media performance/growth promotion testing; microbial identifications testing using API, Vitek, MIDI (GC-MIS) and RiboPrinter identifications systems; total/fecal coliform testing; environmental monitoring; media preparation; stock culture maintenance; qualification of identification test kits and QuantiCult Plus organisms. I executed the QC validation of the DuPont Qualicon RiboPrinter Microbial Characterization System. I also supported sites internationally with the fungal/microbial identification process, the RiboPrinter assay, stock culture maintenance and the microbial identification process flow.

Organizations
Nationally Registered Microbiologist, American Society of Microbiology (2005)

Publications
Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Education/Credentials
B.S. in Microbiology (2000)

Awards and Honors
Received my company's 'Best Practice Award' for the Validation of the RiboPrinter Microbial Characterization System, 2004

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