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I have an indoor fountain with lots of water. What are the most common microorganisms in this kind of moist environment, and what are the standard way to prevent biofilm formation by them? I thought of copper and/or salt as general cheap disinfectants so far.

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    $\begingroup$ Bleaching powder can also be used but it can corrode metal parts. Salt will also aid in corrosion. You can try little bit of phenol or other aromatic disinfectants. $\endgroup$
    – WYSIWYG
    Dec 8, 2014 at 12:46
  • $\begingroup$ By salt about 3-4000 ppm is recommended. It starts to corrode most of the materials above 5-6000 ppm (from non scientific source). I read that cleaning it with acetic acid and using distilled water could work either. Algae is an usual microorganism in this kind of environment. $\endgroup$
    – inf3rno
    Dec 8, 2014 at 15:46
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    $\begingroup$ Distilled water is costly.. It will accumulate minerals and dust soon. You can occasionally use bleaching powder to clean it up. Better than acetic acid. Chlorination is commonly used technique against algae (bleaching powder is calcium hypochlorite). $\endgroup$
    – WYSIWYG
    Dec 8, 2014 at 15:54
  • $\begingroup$ Don't pools use chlorine tablets? $\endgroup$
    – Superbest
    Dec 9, 2014 at 0:08
  • $\begingroup$ @Superbest This is an indoor fountain, and chlorine have an odor, so I wouldn't use it if not necessary. I stay with the salt (about 10-15 g/L), and see what happens. The fountain is 2 days old and does not get too much light, so I hope it won't bloom for a long while. $\endgroup$
    – inf3rno
    Dec 9, 2014 at 0:43

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You can use some antibiotics or germicide or alcohol...they prevent the formation by interfering with the attachment or adhesion and expansion of immature biofilms..

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  • $\begingroup$ Antibiotics degrade quickly. You would spend a lot of money on them if you regularly treat the whole water reservoir. Alcohol needs to be at a very high concentration (70%) to have bactericidal effect. $\endgroup$
    – Superbest
    Dec 9, 2014 at 0:09
  • $\begingroup$ Antibiotics are expensive, and I don't want to nurse AB resistant strains. Germicide is a broad term... Alcohol is expensive as well, and will vaporize very fast. At least I get drunk ;-) $\endgroup$
    – inf3rno
    Dec 9, 2014 at 0:41
  • $\begingroup$ @inf3rno you could also use ion coatings... $\endgroup$
    – TanMath
    Dec 9, 2014 at 6:04
  • $\begingroup$ How can I do that? $\endgroup$
    – inf3rno
    Dec 9, 2014 at 6:40
  • $\begingroup$ @inf3rno I think it comes as a spray... It's about $30... $\endgroup$
    – TanMath
    Dec 9, 2014 at 18:29

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