Pseudomonas fluorescens, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Listeria monocytogenes readily attach to both rubber and teflon surfaces. Once attached, a glycocalyx covering forms effectively protecting them from any sanitizer that passes over the surface. Therefore, sanitizers efficacy testing done in the laboratory with pure glycocalyx-free cultures could lead to false assumptions as to the sanitizer's true effectiveness under actual use conditions. Our objectives in this study were: (1) evaluate sanitizer efficacy of in use concentrations toward bacteria attached to gasket materials, (2) examine attachment on rubber versus teflon gaskets, (3) examine different methods of enumeration, (4) compare kill of attached bacteria to suspension tests, (5) determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations of Sanitizers. Iodophor, hypochlorite, acid anionic, peroxyacetic acid, fatty acid and QUAT sanitizers failed to provide an adequate log kill of bacteria attached in levels of 10⁴ to 10⁵. Most of the tests showed that the log kill falls well short of a 3 log reduction goal. Plate counts, impedance microbiology, and the direct epifluorescent filter technique were tested as methods of enumeration. Impedance microbiology was the best method of enumeration, since it allows the estimation of both reversibly and irreversibly attached bacteria. Minimum inhibitory concentration tests demonstrated the increased resistance of attached bacteria as compared to cell suspensions. / Master of Science

Wastewater effluent produced in the fiberglass manufacturing industry contains a significant amount of total suspended solids. Environmental regulations require pretreatment of effluent before it is discharged to the municipal wastewater treatment plant. Chemical precipitation by coagulation and flocculation is the method of pretreatment used at the Vetrotex CertainTeed Corporation (VCT). A treatability study was conducted to determine conditions at which the VCT Wastewater Pretreatment Plant could operate to consistently achieve a total suspended solids concentration ≤ 200-mg/L. Jar tests varied pH, polymer dosage, and ferric sulfate dosage. Total suspended solids and turbidity were measured to evaluate treatment performance. The data were used to determine an optimum set of conditions under project guidelines. Of twelve polymers screened, BPL 594 was selected as the most effective polymer. For cost efficiency in the wastewater pretreatment operation, recommendations suggested that treatment chemical injection be electronically controlled according to turbidity of the treated effluent.