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PERSISTENCE AND DETECTION OF COLIFORMS IN TURBID FINISHED DRINKING WATER
Citation:
Seidler, R. AND T. Evans. PERSISTENCE AND DETECTION OF COLIFORMS IN TURBID FINISHED DRINKING WATER. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-82/054.
Description:
To define interrelationships between elevated turbidities and the efficiency of chlorination in drinking water, experiments were conducted to measure bacterial survival, chlorine demand, and interference with microbiological determinations. Results indicated that disinfection efficiency (log-fold decrease in coliform numbers) was negatively correlated with turbidity and was influenced by season, chlorine demand of the samples, and the initial coliform level. Interference with coliform detection in turbid water could be demonstrated by the recovery of typical coliforms from apparently negative filters. A procedure was developed to detect false negative reactions (interference) in the standard most probable number (S-MPN) technique for coliform enumeration of potable water supplies.