How Biofilms Form on Surfaces By Swimming Cells

In a very interesting article by Medical Design Technology titled "Findings Suggest How Swimming Cells Form Biofilms on Surfaces", scientists at Purdue University’s School of Mechanical Engineering modeled how biofilms actually draw swimming bacteria to the film and how bacterial colonies to thrive on surfaces.  It is interesting how the same mechanism which causes fouling of implantable medical devices, fouls our UPW distribution systems, industrial pipes and boat propellers. 

This model confirms what we see in the field that once a biofilm takes hold, the problem seems to accelerate in severity. This is why Res-Kem recommends routine sanitizations of water treatment distribution systems to remove biofilms.

For More Information:
To schedule a system sanitization
To purchase the research paper titled "Effect of solid boundaries on swimming dynamics of microorganisms in a viscoelastic fluid" by G. -J. Li, A. Karimi, A. M. Ardekani  in the Rheologica Acta, published on Aug. 31, 2014