The Effect of Copper on Distilled Water Quality for Use in Milk and Water Laboratories

Abstract

Summary Levels of copper toxicity have been established in distilled water using the distilled water suitability test. It is shown that levels of copper, toxic by the distilled water suitability test, are not toxic to the test organism, Aerobacter aerogenes, in sterile milk or to the normal bacterial flora of a raw milk sample. It is the contention of this paper that the distilled water suitability test is an unrealistically severe yardstick of distilled water quality for use in routine milk and water laboratories.