Abstract

It is an unfortunate fact that most water systems today have been designed and are operated and controlled using at least some traditional concepts and methods that are downright wrong. So how could such traditions become so ingrained and be so wrong? How could well-intentioned benchmarking be so misguided? There are many reasons, which will be discussed, but regardless of the causes, we need to be aware of these myths and understand how it really should be done. A number of water system myths will be discussed that are related to microbial control approaches as well as microbial monitoring. Each myth will be explained as to its origin and then put into true context with how the supposed microbial control or monitoring approach SHOULD be handled. You will probably be surprised to learn which of your "rules of thumb" are actually quite wrong!