Microbial Monitoring Can Be Enhanced

The compendial test for microbial monitoring and control of a water system predominantly relies on the traditional plate-count method. This method not only requires a long time to obtain results, it may also introduce contamination to samples, possibly resulting in false-positive tests.

The 7000RMS bioburden analyzer is an at-line instrument that provides real-time and continuous microbial monitoring of a water system, without sample preparation or incubation. The units generated by the 7000RMS, auto-fluorescent units (AFUs), are a measurement of the microbial cells in a water system. As a sample of the water flows through the 7000RMS, it is exposed to a 405 nm wavelength laser. Metabolites, such as NaDH and riboflavin, on the membrane of any cells in the water emit fluorescence in response to the laser light. The analyzer detects the fluorescence and counts how many cells are present. This approach eliminates the variability and time-consuming nature of traditional plate counting. Real-time microbial monitoring allows water release without having to wait for plate-count results.