WATER BATH – use, care and maintenance

WATER BATH

Water bath is a piece of equipment used to maintain culture media at thermostatically-controlled temperatures. They are generally used to keep water at a constant temperature for incubating samples and other reagents in the microbiology laboratory.

Culture media or reagents to be maintained at a particular temperature prior to their usage for further microbiological investigations are normally placed in a vessel that is suspended in the water contained in the water bath (Figure 1).

Water bath is also used for incubation the same way that the incubator operates, but the former utilizes water maintained at a particular ambient temperature level to achieve incubation. The main components of the water bath include the thermostat, water tank, heater, cooling coil and the cover or lid.     

MAINTENANCE/CARE OF THE WATER BATH

• Read the owner’s manual carefully before operating the water bath.

• Culture media and reagents should not be left too long in the water bath to avoid overheating.

• Always check the water bath before use to ensure that the tank is properly filled with distilled water, and that the temperature level is properly regulated.

• Switch off the water bath from its power source after use. 

REFERENCES

Cheesbrough, M (2006). District Laboratory Practice in Tropical countries Part I Cambridge

Chung K.T, Stevens Jr., S.E and Ferris D.H (1995). A chronology of events and pioneers of microbiology. SIM News, 45(1):3–13.

Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 3^rd Edition. Paul Singleton and Diana Sainsbury. 2006, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Canada.

Goldman E and Green L.H (2008). Practical Handbook of Microbiology, Second Edition. CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, USA.

Madigan M.T., Martinko J.M., Dunlap P.V and Clark D.P (2009). Brock Biology of microorganisms. 12^th edition. Pearson Benjamin Cummings Publishers. USA.

Nester E.W, Anderson D.G, Roberts C.E and Nester M.T (2009). Microbiology: A Human Perspective. Sixth edition. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, New York, USA.

Prescott L.M., Harley J.P and Klein D.A (2005). Microbiology. 6^th ed. McGraw Hill Publishers, USA.

Willey J.M, Sherwood L.M and Woolverton C.J (2008). Harley and Klein’s Microbiology. 7^th ed. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, USA.