Antimicrobial Activity of Micro Sized Copper Particles On Water Borne Bacterial Pathogens

ABSTRACT- Water is the source and basis of all living things. The contamination of water is the major concern in the developing countries. In conventional wastewater treatment systems chlorine have been used to disinfect the final effluent as it has several detrimental effects replacement of chlorine is obviously necessary. Traditionally copper vessels are being used to treat and preserve the drinking water for house hold purposes. Therefore In this investigation attempts were made to study the possibility of employing copper micro particles to disinfect various water borne bacterial species. The result revealed that copper micro particles showed maximum inhibitory effect on E.coli Salmonella and minimum on Shigella at the incubation time of 6hrs and the above. This finding indicated that copper containing antimicrobial properties and it can be used in the treatment of water borne pathogens.