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Question 17N.3.HL.TZ0.c

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Date November 2017 Marks available [Maximum mark: 2] Reference code 17N.3.HL.TZ0.c
Level HL Paper 3 Time zone TZ0
Command term Suggest Question number c Adapted from N/A
c.
[Maximum mark: 2]
17N.3.HL.TZ0.c

The scanning electron micrograph shows a biofilm on a metal surface from an industrial water system.

[Source: Biofilms: Survival Mechanisms of Clinically Relevant Microorganisms, Rodney M. Donlan, J. William Costerton, Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2002, 15 (2), pp. 167–193. Reproduced with permission from American Society for Microbiology]

Suggest two problems that could be caused by the presence of biofilms in water systems.

[2]

Markscheme

a. contamination/pollution «of water system»

    OR

    «microbial growth of biofilm» causes disease through water systems

b. difficult to eliminate «from water systems»

c. fouling/clogging of water pipes

d. corrosion of water pipes

OWTTE

[Max 2 Marks]

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