Research on the microbiological quality of water continues to concentrate on improved methods for the detection, enumeration, and identification of pollution indicators, pathogens, and other microbial groups. A complete handbook of basic laboratory procedures, replete with resource information of use to environmental microbiologists for practical applications and research was published. Sections on growth measurement discuss direct, colony, and most probable number (MPN) counts, cultural, enrichment, and selective media, isolation techniques, and related statistics. Physical methods include photometry, chromatography, radioactivity, and other techniques applicable to rapid measurements and automation. Diluents, biomass measurements, and laboratory safety are also addressed. A large volume on prokaryotes provides practical source material on cultural, enrichment, and selective techniques of interest to aquatic microbiologists. Chapters on Enterobacteriaceae, indicators, pathogens, and marine bacteria describe isolation and characterization methods for each species, including those important to water quality. A comprehensive text on membrane filtration contains chapters on the structure, characteristics, and standardization of membrane filters (MF), and reviews MF methods for the examination of water.