Background: Nanotechnology is a field of applied science and technology covering a broad range of topics. Use of nanotechnology and especially silver nanoparticles in control of bacterial diseases and infections has been studied in the recent years. The aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro antibacterial effect of filter media coated with silver nanoparticles against Bacillus spp.

Materials and methods: In this research, first, the antibacterial effects of silver nanoparticles against mentioned bacteria were evaluated by microdilution method in Broth medium. After confidence of inhibitory effect of colloidal silver nanoparticles, antibacterial effect of filter media coated with silver nanoparticles was evaluated via in vitro microbiology tests (zone of inhibition test and test tube test).

Results: Present study showed that colloidal silver nanoparticles have good antimicrobial effects against tested bacteria, so that MIC and MBC of silver nanoparticles for Bacillus spp. were calculated 3.9 and 31.25 mg/L, respectively. Also significant decrease was observed in bacterial growth after exposure to filter media coated with silver nanoparticles in test tube test and  zone of inhibition test (P≤ 5%).

Conclusion: The results of this research indicate that filter media coated with silver nanoparticles have considerable antimicrobial effects; therefore they could possibly be used as excellent antibacterial water filters and would have several applications in other sectors.