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Name: Diane T.
Status: Educator
Age: 50s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Does freezing water remove bacteria and cause it to become unionized as boiling does ?


Replies:
To freeze bacteria in water does not do them any good, and the number of viable organisms certainly goes down, but not to zero, especially the spore-forming bacteria will survive. Freezing is certainly less efficient to kill bacteria than boiling is. I do not know about unionizing the water.

Trudy Wassenaar

Bacteria are adapted to living in every environmental niche on earth, from boiling water springs to polar ice. So it depends to which bacteria you are referring. Pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria are usually adapted to living at human body temperature and freezing temps may kill them. Some however may just be inhibited from growing and when the conditions are right again, can start multiplying. You really can't make a general statement about all bacteria being killed by freezing.

vanhoeck


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