70 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Table•1 Viable Counts in Storage Tanks Viable Count/ml CPS Number Predominant Strain Tank Capacity Nu•• of CPS Nutrient Species Group Strain Laboratory A 10oe 8.6X 10 4 7.4X 103 12 6 W-6 77801 B 15koe 1.5X •'05 8X 10 1900 4 W-6 78231 C 30koe 4.3 X •04 1.2 X 10 4 3.6 2 W-6 78718 Plant D 5 koe 4.3 X 103 2.0 X 10 2 22 5 W-6 78755 E 8k•, 1.3X102 2X10 6.5 4 W-13 781014 F 5koe 1X10 10 1 W-6 781215 *Now improved to 102/ml was irradiated with a U.V. lamp from a distance of 2 cm. There 2 ml of crude enzyme solution was taken out of the vessel and its activity was measured. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION BACTERIA The viable counts and bacterial flora of deionized water Bacteria in the range of 10 to 100,000 per ml were found in the storage tanks of deionized water (Table II). Four to five species were isolated from one tank, the group 10 6- E 10 5- 103 •) 1'2 1'8 Culture Time Sterile Deionized water //"'••X.. -'"'""'"•x Distilled water ß 'tilled Water 2'4 Hrs. Figure 2. Growth curve of indigenous bacteria in purified water

DECOMPOSITION OF SURFACTANTS BY BACTERIA 71 100- Sterile Deionized Water . 100 • 50- W-13 Group • 1•2 1•8 2•4 Hours Sterile Distilled Water Distilled Water 100- W-13 Group • 1•2 118 2•4 Hours 8 o D_ D_ 50- W-13 Group W-6 Group • (2 1•8 2•4 Hours Figure 3. Change of microflora in purified water W-6 bacteria--gram negative rods with motility--were predominant in almost all the tanks except those of E plant. The difference between the manufacturing plants was attributable to whether or not the tanks have immersed type U.V. lamps. Significantly higher counts were observed on C.P.S. agar supplemented with a reduced amount of organic nutrients in comparison with nutrient agar. This was observed for all the tanks. Therefore, it was confirmed that C.P.S. agar was adequate to isolate the bacteria from purified water. Since the bacteria multiplying in the water, survive in oligotrophic (oligotrophs can not grow on a nutritiously rich medium, but on a poor medium) environments, it is 1.0- 0.5- Hours 77801 (W-6 Group) - '2 ' ' 1 l b'02'4' 3'6 ' ' 4'8 ' ' ' Figure 4. Growth curve of bacteria in C.P.S. medium