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A short history of methods used to measure bathing beach water quality
Citation:
Dufour, A. A short history of methods used to measure bathing beach water quality. JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGICAL METHODS. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 181:106134, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2021.106134
Impact/Purpose:
This paper is the introductory paper to a series of papers describing methods used for varying purposes in the study of environmental waters. This paper by itself will not have any great impact on environmental science. It will, however, give the reader a sense of the significant advances made in developing new methods used to measure the quality of bathing beach waters over several decades.
Description:
The enumeration of fecal indicators of bathing beach water to determine quality have been used since the mid-20th century. In the 1930s and as late the 1970s, the Most Probable Number procedure for estimating microbial densities in water was in general use. The most probable number procedure was replaced as a method of choice by the membrane filter procedure. The membrane filter had been developed in the early 1950s but did not find widespread use until the 1970s. Another development during the 1970s was the quanti -tray method, a proprietary multi-well tray, which was introduced as an innovative form of the Most Probable Number procedure. In 2005 molecular methods were introduced as a rapid 3-hourh procedure for measuring bathing beach water quality. Several variations of this approach are currently in use or in development.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: A short history of methods used to measure bathing beach water quality
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33421445/