Filiform organisms accumulate oil and hydrocarbons in a manner similar to that in which iron bacteria accumulate iron. Metabolites of these compounds include such harmful by-products as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and hydrochloric acid.

In industrial water systems employing fresh water as a coolant, heat exchangers have been fouled by such aquatic organisms and insects as spiders, ticks, mites, scorpions, river crabs, mussels and barnacles, which tend to accumulate in the low-flow water box areas. 

In industrial systems utilizing salt water — those aboard ships and heat exchangers near coastal waterways — system shutdowns have been caused by such marine organisms as barnacles, clams, squid, sea urchins, jellyfish, sponges, starfish and octopi.