Answer 2:
Enzymes are catalysts: they allow chemical
reactions to occur more swiftly and requiring less
external energy to happen, but they can't cause a
reaction that doesn't happen normally and don't
get used up. Enzymes do eventually degrade, but
this degradation is not related to how often they
are used.
Catalase detoxifies hydrogen peroxide by
turning it into less toxic compounds of water and
elemental oxygen. Living things protect themselves
from hydrogen peroxide using this enzyme. Contact
with hydrogen peroxide will cause damage to
anything it can react with, but the enzyme will
slow down the process by neutralizing the poison.
Bacteria that can make catalase therefore are
greatly more tolerant of hydrogen peroxide than
they would be without the enzyme.
If hydrogen peroxide will not work, I might
suggest using a different pH (although be careful
not to use something that will corrode your water
well!). Bacteria have a range of pH that they will
tolerate, and exposing them to a pH outside of
that range will kill them (different bacteria
tolerate different ranges, of course). You might
also try iodine.
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