A comparative study of biofouling settlements in different sections of necochea power plant (quequen port, Argentina)

This paper presents a comparative study of biofouling at three sites, experiencing different environmental conditions, within a power station cooling system between September 1982 and August 1983. Microfouling and macrofouling were studied independently through the analysis of dominant species, number of species (S), diversity (H’), and evenness (J‘). The degree of affinity among samples was calculated through Czekanowski's Index and a multivariate method was applied to analyse data on a three‐variable basis: sites, dominant species and time. Microfouling presented highly significant differences between the three stations in relation to S, H’ and J’ values, but a significant correlation with temperature was recorded only with S at the water intake site. Sites further in the system showed decreases in S, H’ and J‘ values. Macrofouling did not display any significant differences between the three sites in S, H’ and J‘ values, but significant correlations were found between S and temperature and between H’ and temperature at all stations. Light intensity and type of flow (laminar or turbulent) are the main factors accounting for the recorded differences.