A study to investigate the combined impact of flow hydrodynamics and pipe material on biofilm development in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS). Biofilms formed on four commonly used pipe materials within a series of purpose built flow cell reactors at two different flow regimes (high and low flow). Pipe materials assessed within this study were polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), structured wall high-density polyethylene (Str-HDPE) and solid wall high-density polyethylene (S-HDPE). Results indicate that varying amounts of microbial material with different morphologies were present depending on the pipe material and conditioning.

The data presented here is in the form of electron micrographs from an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) of pipeline biofilms pre and post incubation in a model flow cell (DWDS). ESEM images show microbial biofilms on four different plastic coupons after 100 days incubation at two different flow rates: Re = 3.41 x10³ (low flow assay) and Re = 5.35 x10³ (high flow assay). In addition, biofilm microbial community data is presented in the form of 16S rRNA gene sequences (fasta files) obtained by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) along with diversity analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences at the genus and phylum level.