A study for biofilm removing and antimicrobial effects by microbubbled tap water and other functional water, electrolyzed hypochlorite water and ozonated water.

The purpose of this study was to examine the biofilm removing and antimicrobial effects of microbubbled tap water and other functional water. The biofilm removal test showed that the activity of microbubbled tap water against the biofilm of Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans was significantly higher than that of ordinary tap water (p<0.01). When the antimicrobial activities of two types of functional water were compared, the activity of electrolyzed hypochlorite water was significantly stronger than that of the ozonated water (p<0.01). The antimicrobial effect of the electrolyzed hypochlorite water was increased in the microbubbled form, and was stronger than microbubbled tap water. The same results were obtained not only for biofilms, but also for planktonic microbes. Our results demonstrated that the microbubbled water showed strong biofilm removing effects. Moreover, the application of functional water, such as electrolyzed hypochlorite microbubbled water was effective for both removing and sterilizing biofilms.