Independent Laboratory Analysis

In October 1997, tests were conducted by KM Laboratories in Grimstad, Norway on samples taken from the municipal drinking water from the Grimstad waterworks. VIVATAP was added to the samples. Below are the results.

Tests were also conducted with regard to Escherichia coli
Table 7: The effect of Vivatap on E.Coli bacterium in water from
Lake Rore and well water (parallel tests).

The results indicate that the water quality improvement agent rerduces the amount of culturable E. coli in water, and coincide with a previous study that also shows that the water quality improvement agent (Vivatap), reduces the bacterial count (Aanonsen, 1999). This effect has two possible explanations:

1. Bacteria are absorbed to chitosan and/or other components in the bags containing the water quality improvement agent (Vivatap), causing the bacterial count in the aqueous phase to be reduced.
2. One or more components in the bags containing the water quality improvement agent (Vivatap) have an inactivating effect on bacteria, causing them to lose their ability to grow on the agar plates. According to the literature, chitosan may inhibit the growth of various types of microorganisims (Sudarshan and Associates 1992).