Humidity and water loss

To maintain the appropriate salt balance in the culture it is critical to prevent medium evaporation. For this purpose, high humidity in the incubator is critical. At a 30-40% relative humidity in the incubator (no added water reservoir), a single tray would lose 4-6ml of liquid in a period of 12h. To retain a high level of humidity (>90%) and prevent water loss, a body of water needs to be maintained in the incubator, with a surface area of 100cm2. Maintaining high humidity in the incubator did not cause observable effects on the hardware and electronics.