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E. COLI AND PUBLIC HEALTH. MONITORING THE QUALITY OF RECREATIONAL WATERS
Citation:
Dufour, A P. E. COLI AND PUBLIC HEALTH. MONITORING THE QUALITY OF RECREATIONAL WATERS. LAKELINE 23(2):13-15, (2003).
Impact/Purpose:
The goal of this research project is to evaluate and compare methods that rapidly (less than 2 hours) measure fecal contamination of water with respect to accuracy, specificity, and ease of use.
Description:
The responsibility for protecting the health of swimmers who may be exposed to microbial hazards at our nations beaches falls on state, municipal or community authorities. They accomplish this by measuring a microorganism called E. coli in beach water samples. We call these microorganisms indicator bacteria because they indicate to us something about the quality of the water. If there are too many of the E. coli in the water sample, the beach water is determined to be unsuitable for swimming. Although we see the names E. coli and indicator bacteria in the newspapers and on television and we know that it is not good to find this microorganism in food or water, there are many misconceptions about why this bacterium is measured and what it means to find it in water.